I 







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Xf^/k^ty^ tuy %Cr£*SLJ-^ 



V 



RECOLLECTIONS 



OF 



MY LIFE. 



FIFTY YEARS OF 



ITINERANCY IN THE NORTHWEST 



BY 



CHAUNCEY HOBAET, D. D. 



BED WING: 

RED WING PRINTING OO. 

1885. 



.5 



H 3i" 



fO the friends whose generosity has made the 
publication of these Recollections possible; 
and to my dear wife and youngest son, who have 
encouraged me to believe that their perusal will 
strengthen the faith and inspire the hope of the 
reader; this book is affectionately dedicated by 

THE AUTHOR. 
Red Wing, Minn., April 2, 1885. 



CONTENTS. 

CHAPTEK I. 

Ancestry — Early Recollections — St. Albans — Essex — 
Home Life — Going to Mill— First School — Early Religious 
Impressions Page 9 

CHAPTER II. 

First Camp-meeting — Second Camp-meeting 21 

CHAPTER III. 

Starting for the West — All Aboard — Westward Ho ! — Ohio 
School — Journeyings — Pocket Bible — Camping — Our Cabin 
Home — Kickapoos — Sickness — Be-kik-a-nin-ee 25 

CHAPTER IV. 

Mother's Faith— Levin Green 47 

CHAPTER V. 

Bee Hunting — Indian Visitors — Indian Stores — First 
School — New Settlers — First Marriage — First Birth — First 
Sunday School 51 

CHAPTER VI. 

Desire for Knowledge — Circulating Library — Religious 
Convictions — Band Mill — Rafting — First Rifle — Busy Days 
— Change of Residence — Horse Mill — More New Settlers — 
Circuit Preaching — First Quarterly Meeting — Going to St. 
Louis — Man in the River — Hunting — Ague 56 



6 'contents. 

CHAPTER VII. 

Black Hawk War Page 73 

CHAPTER VIH. 

Sugar Creek Mill— Father's Death 78 

CHAPTER IX. 

Second Black Hawk War— Skirmishing— My Mother's 
Marriage 82 

CHAPTER X. 

A Meteoric Display — My Conversion — Joining the Church 
— Pulaski Camp-meeting — Local Preachers — Marriage — 
Cholera 86 

CHAPTER XL 

Steward— Study — Licensed to Exhort — Call to Preach — 
Revivals and Conversions — Licensed to Preach 93 

CHAPTER XII. 

Rushville Conference — Received on Trial — Peter R. Borein 
— Rockingham Circuit — Circuit Riding — Hunting a Bed — 
Meeting a Universalist — Watch-night Meeting at Rock 
Island — Taking a Plunge — A Congregationalist Tunis 
Methodist — Great Camp-meeting 103 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Jacksonville Conference — Knoxville Circuit — My Col- 
league — Swimming for Life — Ellison Camp Meeting — 
Frank Snapp — Bro. Mings— My Little Calvin — Conference 
of 1838 130 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Macomb Circuit — Warner Oliver — Unitarianism at La 
Harpe — Dr. Peter Akers — Bilious Fever — A Rich Bless- 
ing — Going to Conference '. 144 

CHAPTER XV. 

Sent to Quincy — Revival — Bro. Clowse — Mormon Contro- 
versy — Religious Interest — Volunteer Camp-meeting . . . 152 



CONTENTS. 7 

CHAPTEE XVI. 

Springfield Conference — Returned to Quincy— Earnest 
Work— Mother Murphy— Conference Sermon — Rush ville 
Station— Revival— Tug of War Page 167 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Two Days' Meeting at Sugar Creek— Stationed at Peoria 
— Building a Parsonage— Stationed at Jacksonville— Billy 
Milburn— Eulogy on Gen. Jackson— Returned to Jackson- 
ville — Stationed at Springfield — China 190 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Clark Street Church, Chicago — A Troublesome Presiding 
Elder— Good Meetings — A Strange Death — Great Conven- 
tion—Sunday at the Pavilion 211 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Racine District — Miss Frances E. Willard — Catfish and 
Indian Ford — Volunteering for Minnesota 225 

CHAPTER XX. 

St. Paul, Minnesota— A Little Trip— Chaplain of the First 
Legislature — Beloit Conference — Quarterly Meeting — Poor 
Dave — Baraboo — Through the Wilderness — Porcupine Feast 
— Great Camp-meeting — Waukesha Conference — General 
Conference, 1852, at Boston — Trip to New York — Begging — 
Sandy Lake 233 

CHAPTER XXI. 

Stationed in Milwaukee — Burned Out — Conference at 
Janesville — Milwaukee District — Stationed at Red Wing — 
General Conference at Indianapolis — My Willie — Lake City 
— Prescott District — A Spiritist Mad — District Work — Con- 
ference at Prescott — A Steep Ride — General Conference at 
Buffalo, 1860 — A Colored Preacher — Judge Gale — Sawing 
the Chippewa — War — Chaplain of Third Minnesota — Illness 
—Return Home— Winona— Thomas Simpson and wife. . 268 



8 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XXn. 

Sioux Massacre — Stationed at Prescott — Ride with Bishop 
Ames — Christian Commission — Colored Class-meeting — 
General Conference at Philadelphia — Little Johnny Doughty 
— Stationed at Market Street, St. Paul — Little Jenny Mur- 
ry — Member of the General Mission Committee — Board 
of Church Extension — Horrors of War — Assassination of 
President Lincoln — Red Wing Circuit — Peace — Camp-meet- 
ing — Winona District — Death of my Wife Page 323 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

Rochester Conference — Bishop Simpson — Visit to New 
York — Protracted Meeting — Brothers Norton — Valuable 
Gift— General Conference at Chicago — House-keeping— St. 
Paul District — Trip to Pembina — Hobart Chapel — Harrison 
Brothers— Red Wing Circuit 365 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

Centennials — American Independence — Methodism— "Re- 
tiring from Active Service — Chaplain to the Legislature — 
Winter in California — Red Wing Circuit — Sickness — Dun- 
can's Mills — Temperance Work — Ranche at Chico — Last 
Word 402 



EKEATA. 

On page 10, seventh line from top, read, 1781 
instead of "1728." 

On page 273, third line from top, read, P. S. 
Bennett, I. M. Leihy, C. Hobart, E. Cook and 
E. Yocum, instead of "I. M. Leihy, C. Hobart 
and H. Summers." 

On page 369, ninth line from the bottom, read, 
built largely with, instead of "built with." 



I yecollecfiorjs • ©p lT/y • lilfe. 



CHAPTEK I. 

rf7HE name which I inherit is probably as old as 
the Norman conquest — and is alluded to in 
English history as "highly respected in the county 
of Norfolk for many generations before 1611, — 
when a baronetcy was conferred on Sir James 
Hobart — Knight, — Attorney-General, and of the 
Privy Council of Henry VII. " 

"Sir Henry Hobart — Knight, — Chief Justice 
of the Court of Common Pleas" — is also mentioned 
as a man of note in the 17th Century. Sir Miles 
Hobart, Member of Parliament in the stormy ses- 
sion of 1627-8, when he helped to hold the Speaker 
in the chair, while certain strong resolutions were 
passed, and afterwards locked the door, while they 
were being published, — and for which he was im- 
prisoned. 

My immediate ancestor, Edmond Hobart, emi- 
grated from England in 1632, — made his home in 
Hingham near Boston in 1633 — and was joined 
by his son Peter in 1636. 



10 RECOLLECTIONS. 

Peter Hobart was a graduate of Westminster 
University. He was a Puritan minister at Hing- 
ham, Eng., and with some forty of his flock emi- 
grated and settled at Hingham, Mass. 

My father, Calvin Hobart, the fifth in descent 
from Peter — was born in New Hampshire, May 
28, 179&?lMy mother, Sallie Norris, daughter of 
Capt. Benjamin Norris, of Dorchester, N. H., was 
born, in Dorchester, April 1, 1785. My paternal 
and maternal grandfathers were soldiers in the 
Eevolutionary war, in which each lost a brother. 

My parents were married by Elijah Heckling, 
at the residence of the bride's father, March 12, 
1809. Both being at the time members of the M. 
E. church. They immediately removed to St. Al- 
bans, Vt., and settled on the beautiful shore of Lake 
Champlain, six miles from the village. Here I was 
born on June 9, 1811, the youngest of twin sons, 
named respectively Norris and Chauncey. At the 
breaking out of the war of 1812, at the earnest 
solicitation of my grandparents, who feared an 
Indian foray from Canada, on the eastern shore of 
Lake Champlain, where my parents lived, they 
removed to the town of Essex, twenty miles in the 
interior, 

My first recollections begin with the summer 
of 1813, when but little over two years old. On 
one occasion my mother sent me to take a sieve 
to her aunt, Mrs. Samuel Hazeltine, twenty-five 
rods distant, and had pinned a little red shawl over 
my head and shoulders. Just before reaching the 
house an old turkey gobbler, attracted by my red 



KECOLLECTIONS. 11 

costume, began to strut and gobble around me at 
a fearful rate. I stopped a moment — hesitating 
as to whether I should fight, run or cry — when my 
good aunt ended the difficulty by coming out, driv- 
ing off my persecutor and taking me into the house. 

I also remember, the following spring, of at- 
tending a quarterly meeting, held in the barn be- 
longing to my mother's uncle, Samuel Hazeltine. 
During the service, myself and brother sat on the 
floor, and as the service was rather tedious for little 
folks, we began to amuse ourselves, and Norris 
began to talk. The presiding elder, Kev. Bromley, 
seeing my mother's anxiety to quiet the child and 
also to hear the sermon, undertook to assist her, and 
supposing that he could awe the little fellow into 
quietness, stopped, and looking at him said sternly: 
"Little boy, you must not talk!" Norris straight- 
ened himself back, and fixing his eyes, as black as 
Erebus, on the elder, said in about the same 
measured distinct tones: " I will talk!" At which 
an almost audible smile stole over the faces of the 
audience, while my mother took up the youngster 
and carried him out of doors. 

Another memory of these early days is, that 
myself and little brother were sent to bring home a 
pair of shoes, left at Grandpa Stockwell's, to be re- 
paired. As we started home we were greatly de- 
lighted to find a nice baked apple in each shoe. 
To suit more fastidious tastes than were ours that 
day, we will suppose that each apple was daintily 
wrapped in tissue paper, yet, as a matter of fact, I 
have no such recollection. 



12 RECOLLECTIONS. 

On one occasion, in September, 1814, while our 
parents attended a quarterly meeting at Jericho, 
fifteen miles away, we (N orris and myself) were 
left at the home of Peter Hobart during their ab- 
sence. On that Sunday afternoon I very distinctly 
remember hearing a heavy distant sound as of 
thunder, and of being told by the boy and girl who 
had us in charge : " Hark ! Do you hear? That is the 
cannon where they are fighting over in Plattsburg!" 

My parents returned to St. Albans in the 
spring of 1815. For beauty and picturesqueness 
nothing to my mind excells the landscape as viewed 
from this point of the eastern shore of Lake 
Champlain. Two miles to the west lies Butler's 
Island, and a little to the left Ward's Island, each 
containing about two hundred acres. Two miles 
still further west stretches that gem of beauty 
known as Grand Isle. While twelve miles to the 
northwest through the gap between the north end 
of Grand Isle and the west end of Hog Island lie 
the clear, blue waters of the main lake. 

Where the road through my father's land 
touched the shore from the east, ran a beautiful 
gravelly beach, with an irregular line of rocks along 
the water's edge, affording one of the most con- 
venient and attractive places for angling. Here, 
on the shore of this beautiful lake, in sight of the 
far-off Adirondacks in the west, and the snow- 
capped peaks of the Green Mountains, on the east, 
the pleasant days of my early boyhood were passed. 

From the spring of 1815, until my father started 
for the west in 1821, I have no recollection of a 



EECOLLEC.TIONS. 13 

sorrow or care, save when parental faithfulness or 
pedagogical prerogative held me responsible for 
juvenile indiscretions. My parents were in 
my estimation models of everything good. I 
thought my father the wisest, strongest and hand- 
somest man in the world, and my mother the em- 
bodiment of all that was noble in womanhood, and I 
had no idea that there was anything knowable 
that they did not know. As they had each been 
teachers before their marriage, devoutly and prac- 
tically religious, and were sincerely devoted to each 
other, I think now as then, that there are but few 
households which furnished more of real enjoy- 
ment than did theirs. 

My father was a carpenter and joiner as well as 
farmer; my mother, the daughter of a New 
England farmer, and a model housekeeper after the 
models of that day; both were good singers and 
above their neighbors in intelligence. They were 
the peace-makers of the neighborhood, and in 
church and social life succeeded in retaining the 
esteem and confidence of all who knew them. 

My first attendance at school was in the winter 
of 1816-17. My father being the teacher. Nothing 
unusual occurred until the winter before I was 
eight years old, when my father took my twin 
brother and myself in his sleigh to the mill in 
Swanton, six miles distant, and across the Missisco 
river, in order that we might do the milling for 
the future. Accordingly, the next spring I was 
mounted on the top of three bushels of grain thrown 
over the back of an old, bay mare, and rode away 



14 EECOLLECTIONS. 

to mill, walked my horse all the way there, got 
my grist ground and was home again before sun- 
down, being warmly congratulated on my return 
by my mother as having accomplished quite a feat. 
The next grist was taken by my brother, and this 
alternation of going to mill was continued until our 
tenth year. I remember also that about the time 
of our first going to mill, a neighbor, whose son 
was a year older than we were, asked my 
mother to allow me to go to mill for her. In very 
clear, decided Anglo-Saxon words, yet with nothing 
unfriendly in look or tone, mother replied: "No; 
your boy is older than mine. It is bad enough to 
have the child go for ourselves!" On one of my 
milling trips, about this time, I was asked by the 
miller if my father and mother were dead. He 
affected surprise when I told him they were both 
living. No doubt the feat of crossing the river on 
a ferry with our old horse and riding the twelve 
miles with our sacks of grain or flour seemed to the 
old man quite an exploit, for two little fellows of 
our size and age. 

During the winter that part of the lake near our 
home was a fine place for skating. The anchor ice 
would form along the shore until some two or three 
hundred feet wide, outside of which the ice would 
be as smooth as glass and twenty to thirty inches 
thick. On this all, from boys of ten to veterans 
of seventy, were in the habit of enjoying them- 
selves in the manly art of skating. Tales of won- 
derful speed were common. It was said that feats 
of a mile a minute had been performed. 



EECOLLECTIONS. 15 

The following story I heard then, and have 
learned since was a fact: 

During the war of 1812 the British had a fort at 
St. Johns at the lower end of the lake, while the 
Americans had one at Whitehall at the head of 
the lake. The forts being one hundred and twen- 
ty-five miles apart. In the winter of 1813 a 
number of American prisoners were kept at St. 
Johns. One pleasant day, the Indians obtained 
permission to take a prisoner out on the ice, in 
order to enjoy themselves at his expense, supposing 
it likely that he knew nothing of the art of skating, 
and promising that he should not escape. 

Accordingly, when on the ice a good pair of 
skates were given to him, these he put on awkward- 
ly, pretending he could scarcely stand, staggering 
slipping and falling. This the Indians enjoyed 
supremely. But after straining, fixing and refix- 
ing his skates, until the fit was perfect, he began to 
improve in gait and to get off a little distance from 
his tormentors going to and fro near them several 
times until the wary Indians were actually off their 
guard. Then finding himself about ten rods from 
the nearest of them — he struck out boldly for the 
Lake. Raising the war whoop his captors started 
in hot pursuit. Whatever of muscle or skill was pos- 
sessed by either party was brought into immedi- 
ate requisition. Pursuit was vain. In less than 
half an hour the prisoner who was an old Cham- 
plain skater was half a mile ahead. The pursuers 
were distanced, gave up the chase, and the escaped 



16 BECOLLECTIONS. 

prisoner in about four hours reported at Whitehall 
for duty. 

My first summer school was in 1817, taught by 
Miss Jane Todd, whom I think of as wise, kind and 
good, and who succeeded in very sensibly managing 
the forty juveniles, she assisted in climbing the 
hill of science. 

Morals and manners were a part of our daily 
routine. We were taught that we must go to and 
return from school in a quiet, orderly way. If we 
met any one older than ourselves, to politely step 
aside, the boys to take off their caps and bow, and 
the girls to courtesy as the stranger passed. 

The work of my brother and' myself about this 
time during our ninth and tenth years was, in the 
spring, to assist in sugar making, commencing 
about the 25th of March, and continuing until late 
in April. Then plowing, planting and making 
garden, etc., until hoeing time. After this we went 
into the haying; afterwards the small grain was to 
be harvested, and then the harvest of fruit. Most 
of the farmers in the fall and winter were occu- 
pied in making potash from the ashes produced in 
the burning of the huge logs which accumulated 
in clearing the land. Stock raising, especially in 
the line of cattle and sheep was followed to a limit- 
ed extent, and in these varied pursuits we assisted. 

In the spring of 1816 my grandfather, Jonas 
Hobart, came with his family to live with my father 
occupying adjoining houses. After his coming 
"Grandpa" took the direction in planting and hoe- 
ing. And in our busy out door life we were con- 



RECOLLECTIONS. 17 

tinually plying him with questions about the Bev- 
olutionary war: about the wound he had received 
in the fighting just before Burgoyne's surrender; of 
his brother Isaac's death at the battle of Bunker 
Hill ; and innumerable other questions as they were 
suggested by childish curiosity. And I have a 
grateful recollection that he was always pleased to 
talk with us and tell us all that he knew. I said 
to him on one occasion, "Grandpa, if you could 
find the man that killed your brother Isaac, and 
knew, that he was the very man would you kill him ?" 
His answer was "Yes!" with such an arousement of 
energy and flashing of eye that, to this hour, I not 
only hear but see the answer. It was soon after 
this that during the summer we were first permit- 
ted to fish; an enjoyment which we improved dur- 
ing the successive summers that we lived on the lake 
shore, and it Avas not unusual for us to bring home 
from three to a dozen fine pan fish. Black bass, 
pickerel, perch, shiners, bullheads, catfish, eels, and 
other kinds, we caught with hooks; while sturgeons, 
muscalunge and many other kinds the men caught 
with seins. I well remember finding a large pin 
which I bent into a hook, tied it to a short line, ob- 
tained a stick about five feet long for a pole, and 
dropping my line into a hole between two rocks — 
pulled out eleven large perch in less than twenty 
minutes. I was then about eight years old and 
carried my perch home and presented them to my 
mother with about as much consciousness of self- 
importance as had Wellington, probably, on his re- 
turn from Waterloo. 



18 EECOLLECTIONS. 

The winters then, as I remember them, were 
long and cold. The snow often coming and hiding 
out of sight fences and stumps. The summers 
were enjoyable and full of delight. The forests 
and fields verdant and gay, alive with thousands of 
birds of every hue, who sought a northern clime in 
which to rear their young, and whose many notes 
rendered both field and forest a vast orchestra. 

The social life of the community was vigorous 
and pleasant. The ladies had their quiltings and 
other parties. The men their "bees," trainings, elec- 
tions and "Fourth of July." I also remember 
hearing of a certain class who patronized balls and 
dances ; but of these we knew nothing definite as the 
people called Methodists frequented no such gath- 
erings. Drunkenness was considered disgraceful, 
but moderate drinking was almost universal. 
Quarrelling sometimes occurred but fighting never. 
A man's person was deemed sacred but his repu- 
tation might be assailed with impunity. To ques- 
tion a man's veracity was hardly considered an of- 
fense, but to touch one's person or property was a 
crime which must be settled by the courts. 

In my seventh year there came to me my first 
remembered conscious impressions of personal re- 
ligious obligation. I had been taught to pray from 
my cradle, the "Lord's Prayer" and other petitions, 
by my dear mother, and I thought that all was 
well with me — and I have no doubt it was. At 
this time there came to visit us several of my 
mother's cousins, all warm hearted zealous Metho- 
dists, not only converted but anxious to "tell to 



RECOLLECTIONS. 19 

sinners round, what a dear Savior they had found." 
One of these, a young lady, took me on her knee 
and told me of God, of Christ, of the Savior's death 
and of my obligation to pray to him in secret. She 
also obtained from me a promise, that I would pray 
in secret, which promise I kept. These extra re- 
ligious observances satisfied my conscience and 
gave me no small amount of satisfaction. We were 
as a family, including myself and twin brother, my 
brother Truman, aged four and Elizabeth K. aged 
two years, in the habit at this time of attending 
preaching, prayer and class meetings and love feasts. 
From these means of grace I began to acquire a 
correct idea of conversion and of the duties, obliga- 
tions and privileges of religious life. Indeed, my 
impression then, was that I was doing all that the 
Lord required of a little boy, and enjoying about 
all that a little boy had a right to expect. I confi- 
dently believed that when I reached the age of ten 
or twelve I should be "called" in some special and 
satisfactory manner, and that I would then ex- 
perience religion as my father and mother had ex- 
perienced it, and after that, should enter fully into 
all those enjoyments of which I had heard others 
speak. 

This impression of a special call before conver- 
sion arose, from the fact, that previous to their con- 
version to Methodism my grandfathers and grand- 
mothers, all four of them, had been members of the 
Calvinistic Baptist church and that my parents 
were educated under that influence. 

This conviction had a benificial influence on my 



20 EECOLLECTIONS. 

conduct. I was kept from profanity and from Sab- 
bath breaking and if I found myself at any time be- 
trayed into anger I could get no rest until I found 
some place to pray, and had made an humble con- 
fession, and asked forgiveness of the Lord for my 
sin. 

When ministers and other religious people came 
to our house, and began to talk of their experience 
— their trials, conflicts and victories, I used to get 
as near to them as I could and listen with the 
greatest interest to their conversation. It seemed 
to me that I had some relation to them, and that 
when the Lord should give me the expected "call," 
I, too, would find all that these so joyfully narrated. 

Our circuit preaching was on Friday — once in 
two weeks. And the preachers on the St. Albans 
circuit then were men of strength. Among these 
I remember Beman, Stratton, Covel, Bromley, Good- 
sell and Dunbar. All of these were men of re- 
nown afterward most of them presiding elders. 
And in those days and for years after to be a pre- 
siding elder was Methodistically "to be greater 
than a king." 



RECOLLECTIONS. - 21 



CHAPTEE II. 
7VT Y first camp-meeting to which I was taken by 
L) -*- my parents,was held in Peru, New York, on the 
west side of Lake Champlain. The ministers pre- 
sent were Key's Beman, Mitchell, Bromley and 
others, men of power. Instead of having an altar 
before the stand there was arranged a circle for 
prayer, out in the middle of the camp ground about 
one hundred feet in diameter. This circle was made 
by the members taking each other by the hand and 
all who desired to take part in the meeting or to as- 
sist their friends who were seeking salvation were 
permitted to enter and the exercises were kept up 
within, almost continuously, when there was no 
public preaching. In the centre of this prayer 
circle, and standing about twenty feet apart, were 
two trees. Between these trees, for about three 
days and nights, no one could pass without falling, 
losing their strength and becoming unconscious 
to all outward things. 

This now strange phenomenon, called by some 
"having the power," by others "fanaticism," was 
regarded by the pious then, as the work of the 
Holy Spirit and an agency used by the Almighty, 
to wake up a sleeping church and community, to 
the great facts of revelation and religion. 

The second camp-meeting which I attended, was 



22 RECOLLECTIONS. 

held in Georgia, Franklin County, Vt., in the sum- 
mer of 1821, J. B. Stratton presiding elder and, I 
think, Eev's Covel and Dunbar, circuit preachers. 
There was some little friction here growing out of 
the fact, that the elder, who had married into a 
Presbyterian family, had made it the standing rule 
of the meeting, that all exercises should cease, and 
the lights be extinguished at 10 p. m." This, it 
was alleged, was done to please his wife's friends, 
who had been induced to attend the camp-meeting 
— it was contrary to previous usage, and Elder 
Bromley, who had had charge of the District, the 
year before, was so "tried" that he would not 
preach. In vain did the preachers and people 
urge ; — he would not preach with a gag in his 
mouth, nor while the people were restrained in 
any way from the enjoyment of the largest relig- 
ious liberty. 

This unpleasantness was rather calculated to 
dampen the enthusiasm of the meeting, when at 
last, on Saturday evening, Elder Stratton probab- 
ly to prevent a failure, said to Elder Bromley — 
"All the brakes are taken off" and that he, (Elder 
B. ) — must preach on the coming Sunday at 10, A. 
M. I distinctly remember that my father said to 
me, that Sunday morning as we took our seats — 
(myself at the root of a tree) — "Now my son, 
you must hear every word, and tell me something 
of what the preacher said after the service!" 

This quickened my attention and I remember 
now, after sixty-four years, that the text was Isaiah 
XII, containing six verses — the whole of which 



RECOLLECTIONS. 23 

was used as the text that morning. The sermon 
was an earnest one, and spoke of the wrath of God, 
the turning away of that wrath, the mighty com- 
fort secured, and of the Water of Life drawn from 
the well of salvation. During the earlier part of 
the sermon, the tide of feeling was evidently ris- 
ing, as attested by responses from every portion 
of the great congregation; but it was the last part, 
while the preacher was commenting on the sixth 
verse — "Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of 
Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel in the 
midst of thee," that interested me most; and this, 
it was that I repeated to my father after the ser- 
vice — as he inquired, what I remembered ? In the 
earnest tone and impassioned manner of the 
preacher and imitating his style as nearly as I 
could I exclaimed: "Away with your pop gun re- 
ligion! — Give us a six pounder! — A twelve pound- 
er! — A twenty-four pounder! — The bigger the bet- 
ter!!" 

In the earlier part of the meeting and preced- 
ing the removal of the 10 o'clock p. m. limit, per- 
haps on Friday evening, there was a very warm 
prayer meeting in progress at my father's tent, 
during which several were converted and some re- 
claimed. The meeting was going on with increas- 
ing interest when the hour of ten arrived, a few 
minutes after which, one of the preachers came in 
and reminded those present that the meeting must 
close, and the lights be extinguished." 

This was done, much to the regret of all, and es- 
pecially of my mother, but would have been borne, 



24 RECOLLECTIONS. 

probably without expostulation, had not the same 
preacher, with one or two others come the next 
morning, and said rather facetiously; "Now sisters 
you may shout as much as you please!" This was 
too much for my mother to bear, and turning to 
the speaker she said: "Now Brother, I am tried! 
I am hurt deeply at two things which you have 
done! Last night when the Lord was preciously 
near, and some of our dear neighbors were being 
reclaimed and others converted, you came, and in- 
sisted on closing the meeting, telling us that we 
must put out the lights and retire. Now this 
morning, when we are all busy with our breakfast, 
you come and say, 'Now sisters you may shout!' 
What would you think of us if we should begin to 
shout now, just because you told us we might?" 
This put the matter in a rather strong light and 
ended anything like levity on the subject, espec- 
ially as my mother was known to be no shouter, 
though she did not object to others shouting when 
they felt like it. 



RECOLLECTIONS. 25 



CHAPTEK III. 

T^vUKING the summer of 1814, when it was ex- 
*& pected that the war with England would con- 
tinue, several regiments had been enlisted in New 
England, composed principally of young men ; with 
the intention of carrying the war into Canada the 
next year. But as the war closed in December, these 
recruits were sent to the west and stationed at dif- 
ferent forts, along the Mississippi, Missouri and 
other frontier posts. They were discharged in 
1819 and returned to their New England homes, 
bringing wondrous reports of the west. They 
stated, that, in Illinois and Missouri, hundreds of 
tons of hay could be cut for nothing; that corn 
grew so high, that many of the ears, could not be 
reached by a man standing on the ground; that 
from eighty to one hundred bushels of corn could 
be raised on an acre; that the soil was more than 
two feet deep and inexhaustibly rich, and, that in 
many places you could plow a furrow six miles 
long without touching a stone, stump or tree. 
They told that the climate was mild and delight- 
ful, and that cattle could live without being fed or 
sheltered during the winter, in the southern part 
of Illinois and anywhere in Missouri. 

Many of the people regarded these reports as 



26 RECOLLECTIONS. 

unreliable, exaggerated and altogether of the Mun- 
chausen school. But with my father it was differ- 
ent. He knew several of these men and believed 
their statements to be true. The consequence was, 
he determined to sell out, and find a home in Illi- 
nois. Accordingly he sold his house and farm for 
three quarter sections of land, situated in the 
"Military Bounty Tract." This tract lies between 
the Illinois and Mississippi rivers, and extends 
from the mouth of the Illinois river to near the 
mouth of Rock river, thence east to the Illinois. 
The land which he purchased all lay within 
Schuyler county. 

Preparations for the journey were made during 
the summer, by gathering his harvests and turning 
personal property into teams, wagons and money. 

In the meantime while these were being carried 
out, an old friend of my father's, a friend of his 
youth, Mr. Enock Danforth, with wife, determined 
to join him in his expedition to the west. To. 
facilitate matters, Mr. Danforth and family moved 
into a part of our house and the friends were mu- 
tually helpful in getting ready for the long journey. 

The summer passed pleasantly and on the 25th 
of August, 1821, teams and wagons being provided, 
goods packed and everything in order, we were 
"all aboard" about two o'clock in the afternoon 
and ready to start. 

I well remember the occasion, about two hun- 
dred of our friends and neighbors had gathered. 
Friends who had known and loved my parents 
from childhood were there. Many tears were shed, 



RECOLLECTIONS. 27 

many kind wishes expressed, many prayers uttered 
and many blessings invoked. 

After my father had stepped into the wagon, and 
had taken the reins in his hand, he stood up and 
made a little speech. 

He expressed his appreciation of their kindness, 
as neighbors and friends in the years that had 
passed, and said, that if life and health were 
spared, and he should prosper he hoped in ten 
years to come back on a visit. 

The last good-byes were said, the word was given 
and we started for the far west. 

The first afternoon, we only made the short stage 
of about three miles to the Bay, where we stopped 
over night, with an old friend, Elijah Dunton, 
whom we children knew as "Uncle Lijah." The 
next day we reached Essex in the neighborhood of 
which we had lived from 1812 to 1814. From 
Essex we moved westward via Burlington and Ver- 
gennes. At the last point named we learned some- 
thing more of a Mr. Spencer, father of Judge 
Spencer of Rock Island and grandfather of Eev. 
Spencer, of Rock River Conference. Of this 
gentleman my father had had some knowledge, 
and learned that he had started for Illinois in 
the early summer of 1821, two months previous. 
About the tenth day we arrived at the home of my 
uncle, Amos Hobart, who lived in the eastern part 
of New York. Here we rested three days, passing 
the Sabbath. 

Proceeding westward, we passed through Utica, 
crossed Cayuga Lake on a long bridge, and going 



28 EECOLLECTIONS. 

through Batavia, came to Buffalo. At Buffalo we 
rested two days with Mr. Folsom and wife, who 
were old New Hampshire friends of my father and 
mother. This city, now one of such wealth and 
importance, was then but a small village. 

From Buffalo we traveled along the shore of 
Lake Erie, over a very rough and muddy 
road, for many miles, immediately on the brink 
of a precipice, over four hundred feet deep, which 
constituted the shore of the lake. Towards the 
last of October, we reached Painesville, Ohio. 
Here we rested about a week with my mother's 
oldest brother, Benjamin Norris, Jr., a well-to-do 
farmer who had been there several years. 

Here it was thought best, in view of the near 
approach of winter and the bad condition of the 
roads, which from freezing and thawing were near- 
ly impassable, and as we must go through this 
then new and but little improved country, to find, 
soon, some neighborhood, where work could be 
obtained and living would be cheap, for the winter. 
For this purpose, we drove on to Hudson, Portage 
county, and stopped three miles west of that vil- 
lage, in the D arrow neighborhood. The country 
around here, had been settled about twenty years, 
and the people were generally thrifty, intelligent 
and pious. We were soon comfortably situated for 
the winter, plenty of work for my father, and a 
good school for us near by. The most of the peo- 
ple in that vicinity were Presbyterians from Con- 
necticut, but my parents were greatly pleased to 
learn, that there was also a class of Methodists, 



RECOLLECTIONS. 29 

and that there was preaching in the school house 
once in two weeks — Billings O. Plympton, circuit 
preacher, and William Swayzie, presiding elder. 

The school for the winter term soon opened, with 
Leander Sackett, teacher. And for the next four 
months, we little folks were about as contented 
and happy as it falls to the lot of most mortals to 
be. Father and mother, busily at work and my 
brothers Norris and Truman, sister Lizzie and my- 
self going to school. Our grandparents and Mr. 
and Mrs. Danforth, who had traveled in company 
with us, also found comfortable dwellings near us. 
The winter proved a mild and open one, so that 
the time passed very swiftly. 

The school which we attended numbered about 
fifty pupils, and was of about the same grade as 
the one we had left in St. Albans, except that, be- 
sides the spelling book, Geography and New Tes- 
tament, we here found, and for the first time saw, 
the English Reader. 

In the course of the winter, having, as we our- 
selves and as our teacher supposed, developed our 
ability very considerably in spelling, a proposition 
was sent from our school to a school two miles east 
of us, to meet in a spelling match. To our invita- 
tion they did not respond, but in a week or so 
sent their teacher down to visit our school, one 
Friday afternoon, in time to hear the exercises of 
our spelling class. He was courteously received 
by our teacher, Mr. Sackett, and when the "first- 
class," of which I had the honor to be a member, 
was called to take its place, the book was handed 



30 RECOLLECTIONS. 

to the visiting teacher, with the request that he 
would give out the spelling lesson. As he took the 
book, Webster's old spelling book, he inquired of 
Mr. Sackett where the lesson was. "Anywhere 
you please," was the reply. The gentleman hesi- 
tated a moment, then turned, I think, to the twen- 
ty-sixth table, consisting of words in which the 
hard sound of ch is found, beginning with Christ, 
chyle, scheme, ache, &c, and he announced the 
first word. This word, "Christ," was spelled by 
the first boy, when without waiting for the giving 
out of another word, the class, one after another, 
spelled each successive word in the table of some 
two hundred of the most difficult words of that 
style. It was done promptly round and round, 
without any mistake or trepidation. When the 
last word had been spelled, the visitor, turning to 
Mr. Sackett, remarked: "You have given some 
special attention to this table, have you not?" 
"No, sir!" replied Mr. Sackett, "no more than to 
any other part of the book!" This was indeed 
true. However, we never succeeded in getting an 
invitation after that, to go up and spell with our 
visitor's school, nor in getting them to accept an 
invitation to come down and spell with us. 

Thus for four months, our school progressed, 
not without the usual admixture of fun and frolic, 
mischief and meanness, and a fair amount of good 
hard study; then it was closed with a turn out of 
a large number of the patrons of the school to wit- 
ness our closing exercises, and dismissed with kind 
words of commendation. 



EECOLLECTIONS. 31 

In the spring, the first Sunday school ever held 
in that neighborhood was organized, which, we 
also, for the first time attended. There was no 
literature extant for Sunday schools at that time; 
frit we had our Bibles, and with these and good, 
pious teachers, no difficulty was found in making 
and keeping up an interest. Our program was: 
first singing, then prayer, next the Bible lesson 
and the recitation of verses, which we were re- 
quired to memorize. Afterwards the superintend- 
ent catechised the school on the lesson studied, and 
closed with singing and the benediction. 

At the first meeting of our new Sunday school, 
it was announced, that a pocket Bible would be 
given as a reward to the scholar, who, at the end 
of two months, had learned and recited the great- 
est number of verses, from the New Testament. 
Of course, this was the occasion of much excite- 
ment. Such a prize was rare, indeed, and many 
started in to obtain it, if possible. On the next 
Sabbath, I recited three chapters, and was among 
the foremost that day. This success added to my 
already fixed purpose, to earn the prize, others 
beside myself being equally determined to 
win. But on the third Sabbath there appeared a 
new contestant, a stranger lately come to the place, 
Julia Burnett, a girl of about thirteen, who re- 
peated, on that day, for her first effort, seven chap- 
ters in Matthew's Gospel. On the following Sun- 
day, she completed the Gospel of Matthew and 
recited several chapters in Mark; on the fourth 
Sunday, she finished Mark, and could have re- 



32 RECOLLECTIONS. 

peated nearly all of Luke, had her teacher had 
sufficient time to hear her. This settled the mat- 
ter; she walked through the Gospels, and finished 
the New Testament. She took the prize, obtaining 
the much desired pocket Bible, bound in red mo- 
rocco, all the rest of us having thrown up our hats, 
and retired from the contest, long before the expi- 
ration of the two months. What the subsequent 
history of Julia Burnett was, I never knew, but 
she excelled in her ability to memorize any one of 
her age whom I have ever known. 

My father's intention, when he stopped in Ohio, 
in the fall of 1821, was to move on in the early 
spring. But in March, 1822, he was attacked with 
a slow debilitating fever, which continued until 
past-midsummer and prevented our going for- 
ward until the latter part of August. This delay 
discouraged Mr. Danforth, who concluded to go 
no further west but to find a home in that part of 
Ohio where we had wintered. During our stay in 
Hudson, my father had learned that an uncle of 
his, William Hob art, had settled in that part of 
Ohio, a few years before, and that his home was 
some twenty miles away, and made it convenient 
to visit him. He found that his uncle was dead, 
that his sons were scattered and that his daugh- 
ter Prudence was the only one of his uncle's 
family left there. She had married a Mr. Taylor. 
Her second son William Hobart Taylor, then just 
twenty-one years old, was at home with her and 
agreed to accompany my father to Illinois. But 
in consequence of his continued poor health we 



RECOLLECTIONS. 33 

did not leave Hudson until the first of September. 
Then we were all in readiness, and started again 
with two teams, one driven by my father, the other, 
containing my grandparents and Miss Ruth 
Powers their granddaughter, was driven by our 
cousin, W. H Taylor. The country over which 
we traveled was new, and the roads rough and 
heavy. Roots and stumps were abundant and 
corduroy roads, of indefinite length continuous. 
Our route lay from Hudson, through Medina 
and parallel with Lake Erie, leaving Sandusky, 
twenty miles to the right, thence to Columbus, and 
then on to Dayton, where we turned south, and 
went to Cincinnati, where an uncle of my mother, 
Andrew Norris, had settled a few years before. 
We stopped in Cincinnati two days with a son of 
Uncle Andrew and then drove out twelve miles 
and stayed four days with Uncle Andrew Norris. 
On our arrival at the home of this uncle, who had 
had no intimation of our coming, we were wel- 
comed with a heartiness that I now recall very 
vividly. This visit was to our relations a most 
pleasant surprise, and a source of much joy. I 
remember our Aunt Norris, clasping my mother 
in her arms, then holding her off, clasping her 
closely again, and exclaiming "Why this is Ben's 
Sally!" 

While resting in this friendly home we assisted 
in gathering in the apple harvest. Before leaving, 
on Monday morning, we were well supplied with 
tubs and sacks full of fine apples, which we en- 
joyed during the remainder of our journey, and 



34 EECOLLECTIONS. 

which were the last apples that we tasted for about 
nine years, or until we raised them ourselves on 
the prairies of Illinois. 

Our next drive was to Brookville in Indiana 
where we spent the night. After this, for ten 
nights and days we were in a densely wooded 
country without any regular roads, only such as 
travelers and frontier-men had improvised for 
their own immediate necessity. Neither was there 
any inn or place of shelter, so that we were obliged 
to camp out. This was a novel experience. There 
was no difficulty in finding a good camping place 
under the great beech trees and the beds of dry 
leaves that had been accumulating for years, but 
the trouble was to find good water. Hence every 
brook was noted as the spot in which to camp, and 
except on two occasions, we succeeded in finding 
camps well supplied with water, and in these in- 
stances we gathered an aromatic herb, known as 
spice brush, and knowing that the water was bad, 
boiled it and made spice brush tea to drink. 

Around these camping places, on the bark of 
the smooth beech trees, we found registered the 
names of many travelers, who had preceded us — 
with the date of their advent there, and the place 
from whence they came and where they were 
going. With special delight my father found the 
names of our friends, the Spencer's from Yergen- 
nes, who had taken the same route about a year 
previous. 

These ten days were especially wearisome and 
full of hardships. They served however, to de- 



RECOLLECTIONS. 35 

velop one feature of American character, the 
ability to accomodate one's self to his environment. 

These clays of toil brought us to Terre 
Haute, where we crossed the Wabash river, and 
entering Illinois we drove to Colonel Austin's, near 
where Paris has since been built. His home was 
situated on the eastern border of that wonderful 
plat of fertility and beauty. "The Grand Prairie." 
This was the first prairie that we had seen in its 
natural state, and it is no exaggeration to say that 
in those lovely October days the sight to us was a 
grand one far beyond our expectations. We had 
looked to find "a prairie where a furrow could be 
plowed six miles long without striking stump, tree 
or stone," but here we beheld a prairie where a 
furrow one hundred miles long might have been 
plowed without the least obstruction. 

We had come to a halt at this spot late at night. 
Early the next morning, long before day light my 
father was up and had walked out a mile or two. 
After taking a good view of the country around he 
returned and informed us all, with much de- 
light, that if there were a more beautiful country 
or one more promising on earth or in heaven, he 
would like to see it! 

At this point we laid in "provisions for man and 
beast" for four days, as it was more than one hun- 
dred miles to the next house. 

Setting out again we drove on about twenty- 
eight miles and camped for the night at a small 
grove on the head waters of the "Okaw." We 
proceeded forward the second and third days stop- 



36 RECOLLECTIONS. 

ping only to camp. This we were obliged to do 
at "the Groves," as in crossing the prairie these 
were the only places where wood and water could 
be found. As we approached these they looked 
in the distance like islands in an ocean of wavy 
grass, beautiful beyond description. 

On the morning of the fourth day at about 10 
o'clock we came to a place where a few poles had 
been laid across the road, and a row of stakes ran 
off angling to the right, and on a board fastened 
to a stake were these words, "Twelve miles to 
Steven's." 

Not having learned yet the language of cross 
poles and angling stakes, instead of following the 
"stakes," as we should, we drove round the poles 
and followed the trail. This trail which we kept, 
was in fact the track of a lost Dr. Somebody, who 
had been the first to cross the prairie about four 
months before, and had been lost, as had been the 
travelers who followed him. 

This error led us about twenty-five miles out of 
our way, and was the hardest experience of our 
journey so far, nothing for ourselves or horses to 
eat, a road through slashes, creeks and mud. We 
camped at night not knowing where we were nor 
when we should get through. However, we started 
on the next day and reached Mr. Steven's about 
noon, glad enough to find food and shelter. 

Mr. Stevens lived about three miles west of the 
present site of the city of Decatur. His nearest 
neighbor on the east being Colonel Austin, whom 



KECOLLECTIONS. 37 

we had left, and on the west Colonel Eogers who 
lived twenty-five miles distant. 

Here we remained three days to recruit, and the 
following Monday morning moved on, reaching 
the Colonel Eogers settlement that night. The 
next morning we drove on, crossing the Sangamon 
leaving Springfield several miles to the south and 
camped at the head of "Clary's grove," and the 
following day crossed "Richland creek" and kept 
the road on the south side of the grove as far as 
Harrison's at the head of the creek. We then set 
out for "Job's settlement" sixteen miles west 
across the prairie, hoping to get there before dark. 

In this, however, we were disappointed, as night 
overtook us when about half way across. To add 
to our trouble it began to rain, so that we could 
not see the road, and the only way to keep the trail, 
was for W. H. Taylor to pull of his boots and fol- 
low the path in his "stocking feet," guided by the 
sense of feeling. This was done, and by about 10 
o'clock p. M. we came to Mr. Archibald Job's, and 
were comfortably housed for the night. This set- 
tlement consisted of four families, Thomas and 
David Blair, Arch. Job and Jacob White. 

The next day a drive of twelve miles brought us 
to the cabin of Timothy Harris, living at the foot 
of the Illinois Bluffs, and six miles east of the Illi- 
nois river. Here was the Ultima Thule of settle- 
ment. 

Beyond this or west of it, except a deserted cabin 
at Downing' s Landing, (now Beardstown) there 
was not a shanty that side of the Rocky Mountains, 



38 KECOLLECTIONS. 

and north of it, not a resident nearer than Hud- 
son's Bay. 

Mr. Harris' cabin was about twelve feet square, 
and was already occupied by himself, a Mr. Brown, 
Ephram Eggleston, wife and six children. But 
stop there we must, and stop we did. To add to the 
novelty and strangeness of this situation there 
were about three hundred Potawatamie Indians 
camped along the creek just above the house. 
These with about as many dogs as there were peo- 
ple swarmed out to greet the new-comers, giving 
us a noisy welcome, and appearing as much aston- 
ished as if we were an embassy just arrived from 
the moon. 

That night the floor of the little cabin was ac- 
tually covered with beds, and these only accommo- 
dated about half of the company. The other half 
finding shelter in the wagons. To add to the em- 
barrassment of the crowded situation, the second 
day after our arrival Mr Nathan Eels, wife and 
seven children made their appearance at the cabin 
door. 

Two things now demanded immediate attention. 
First, bread — something must be had to eat! 
Secondly, shelter — a place must be made ready to 
live in! 

To meet the first necessity we gathered about 
twenty bushels of corn and shelled it. 

My mother took one of our teams and with my 
brother Norris went back sixty miles to where 
there was a horse mill to get it ground. 

While mother was gone on this expedition all 



RECOLLECTIONS. 39 

hands turned out to cut and haul logs to build 
cabins for the coming winter. 

It happened that in getting the corn ground 
mother had succeeded better than father could 
have done had he taken it to the mill. When she 
arrived there were enough there waiting who had 
come before her to keep the miller busy for three 
days. But because she was a woman and had 
come so far, the generous hearted Illinoisians 
kindly waived their claim and allowed her to have 
her grist ground immediataly. On the fourth day 
she returned safely with her wagon load of meal, 
and found a kind of double log cabin well ad- 
vanced towards completion. In another day or 
two the cabins were ready for occupancy. 

Floors, made of basswood puncheons hewed; 
doors, and roof made of shakes, called boards, four 
feet long six to eight inches wide and half an inch 
thick, split with a froe, from white, black and burr 
oak. 

The process was to find a tall straight grained oak, 
three or four feet through, saw it into blocks four 
feet long, split it into bolts, and then "rive" it into 
boards. An experienced man could make boards 
enough in a day to cover a house, if the timber was 
good. 

The house being built we moved in, after which 
things were soon arranged so as to be comfortable 
for the winter. 

After this my father and Mr. Eels took the lat- 
ters' oldest son Nathan, and myself and went back 
to Clary's grove, forty or fifty miles to buy grain for 



40 RECOLLECTIONS. 

the winter and coming summer. Here we found 
a job of gathering corn on the shares — one third 
for harvesting. We took twenty acres, which gave 
us about three hundred bushels for our share, as 
the team belonged to my father. Taking a wagon 
load to mill we returned with a supply of meal for 
the winter. The next thing was for my father to 
make a trip across the river to see the land he had 
bought. He was much pleased with the country; 
but not quite so well with his purchase, so far as 
the quarter section which he saw was concerned — 
it being heavily timbered and hilly. 

Still he determined to move over as soon as pos- 
sible. For this preparations must be made. Ac- 
cordingly he went back to the older settlements 
and traded a wagon, watch, etc. for a yoke of oxen, 
plough, chain, two cows and seven hogs. Another 
trip back to the settlement secured enough of meal 
and corn to last until mid-summer. 

All things being in readiness, goods packed and 
teams harnessed, on the 22d of February, 1823 we 
vacated the first cabin built and which we had oc- 
cupied about three months, drove six miles to 
the Illinois river, and staid with Mr. Eggleston, 
who had lately moved into the deserted cabin at 
Downing' s Landing. Here we were feasted on 
honey, taken from "bee trees" found in the neigh- 
borhood. The next morning, the 23d, we crossed 
the river on the ice. We proceeded up the river 
three miles when we crossed the bottom, drove up 
the bluff and stopped to cook and eat our dinner. 
While here we noticed bees flying around in 



EECOLLECTIONS. 41 

various directions. With a little effort a bee tree 
was soon found, cut down, and the honey secured. 
A drive of ten miles then brought us to the prairie, 
we found a camp of basswood puncheons, which 
had been made a week before by two young 
men, Orris McCartney and Samuel Gooch, and in 
this we stopped. 

These young men had brought three hundred 
head of hogs from the neighborhood of Jackson- 
ville to fatten them on the "mast," (nuts and 
acorns) which was abundant. 

In three days we had a log cabin ready to occu- 
py, and were soon settled in it. This being neces- 
sarily hastily completed, my father, W. H. Taylor 
and S. Gooch, who had joined us, proceeded to build 
a more substantial house for our family about sixty 
rods west of the first house. This for three years 
was our home ; while the first cabin built, after be- 
ing made more comfortable, was occupied by my 
grandparents and their granddaughter, Miss Ruth 
Powers, who crossed the river about two weeks 
after us. 

This location was on the southwest quarter of 
the southeast quarter of section sixteen town two 
north of range one west, of the fourth principal me- 
ridian, school land, open for settlement. 

And we began to feel that our wanderings of 
eighteen months were ended. 

On the second day after our arrival, and while 
still in camp and the men busy in building, we 
were visited by about one hundred Indians, ( Kick- 
apoos) who were returning from their southern 



42 RECOLLECTIONS. 

winter hunt, and had camped just across the prai- 
rie, about a mile south of us, this being one of 
their favorite camping grounds in their semi-an- 
nual migrations north and south. Their summer 
village and corn fields were at the head of Hender- 
son river, seventy miles north, just where the vil- 
lage of Henderson has been since built. 

These Kickapoos gave us their idea of aristo- 
cratic rank by saying: — "A Potawatamie lives on 
the river, rides in a canoe, and eats muskrats and 
mud-turtles; while a Kickapoo, lives on the high 
lands, rides on horse back, and eats venison." 

The Indians were very friendly with us from 
the first. They called my father "Postonie," or 
Boston man, to distinguish him from the men from 
the south, whom they called, Chemo-co-mon, or 
long knife. These people were around us more or 
less every day while they were in camp, and many 
of them were present and witnessed our exit from 
camp to cabin. 

When we had time to look about us, we found 
that our new home was located on a beautiful prai- 
rie, extending only about one mile east, but run- 
ning off west and northwest indefinitely. Fortu- 
nately, too, we had chosen a healthy situation, with 
no local causes of sickness in the vicinity. The 
springs of which we drank, ran north into Sugar 
Creek. One mile south, similar springs ran south 
into Crane Creek; and two miles west, the waters 
ran southwest into Crooked Creek. Had my father 
been a western frontier-man, he could scarcely 
have found a place in all respects more desirable. 



RECOLLECTIONS. 43 

Game was abundant, bears, panthers, wolves, 
lynxes, wildcats, foxes, raccoons, 'possums, minks 
and. muskrats were plenty and were heard and 
seen in all directions. Deer, turkeys, prairie hens 
and quails swarmed in thousands. And what was 
not so pleasant, the snake family was fully and 
numerously represented. Those most to be dread- 
ed, were yellow rattle-snakes, prairie rattle-snakes, 
copper-heads and moccasins — the last the most 
feared and venomous of all. 

But our father was no hunter, and he never 
killed either a deer or turkey, although they many 
times came very near the house. 

Spring soon came, and all who could work were 
busy in preparing to plant as extensively and as 
early as possible. As the wild prairie land in that 
latitude produces but little the first year, we cleared 
and planted fifteen acres of timber land, besides, 
breaking twenty-five acres of prairie. From the 
timber land we had a yield of one hundred bushels 
of corn to the acre, and from the breaking a fair 
crop of corn, pumpkins, melons and turnips. 

Mr. Eggleston, whom we left at Downing's Land- 
ing, moved over with the help of our team about 
the first of April, and settled about a mile west of 
us. As the river was very high the family came 
up four miles to the "upper landing," where they 
were met by my father and myself. We camped 
in the bottom all night, and in the morning the 
horses were turned out to eat the fresh grass which 
was abundant. After eating breakfast, I was dis- 



44 RECOLLECTIONS. 

patched to bring up the horses, which had wan- 
dered off about fifty rods. 

When I came to where they were feeding, my 
attention was attracted by a steady, dull, buzzing 
noise, which seemed to proceed from a spot near 
them. Approaching with great caution I discov- 
ered a huge rattlesnake coiled on a large moss 
covered log, giving notice to all intruders not to 
come too near. I had yet to learn that a snake 
could not rise from the ground in its attempt to 
strike an enemy, but supposed they could actually 
jump several feet. Hence, in order to be safe, I 
procured a dry pawpaw pole about twenty feet 
long. Coming within reach I struck him so as to 
break my pole, and knock him from the log. 
Yenturing a little nearer I multiplied my blows, 
and soon had the pleasure of fully bruising the 
serpent's head. This was the first yellow rattle- 
snake I had seen, and he measured over four feet. 

This was the beginning of a war of extermina- 
tion, by me, on this enemy of our race, and which 
eventuated in the lessening the numbers of the 
rattle-snake family, copper-heads and vipers thrown 
in, by probably a thousand. 

The third cabin built in the settlement was by 
Mr. Eggleston, on the southwest quarter of section 
sixteen. 

The next settlers were Samuel and James Turner, 
from St. Clair county, 111. They came in quest of 
health, having lived in the American bottom until 
they two were all who were left of the entire 
family, and they had suffered with chills and 



EECOLLECTIONS. 45 

fevers until life was almost a burden. And these 
gentlemen built the fourth house. They never 
occupied their house, as intended. They returned to 
St. Clair county with the expectation of coming back 
in the spring to stay, but in this they were disap- 
pointed, as James sickened and died in the sum- 
mer of 1824, and Samuel returned alone in the 
spring of 1825. 

About the last of June, 1823, my mother and 
myself were taken violently ill with what we then 
called billious fever. Physicians were out of the 
question; there were none within a hundred miles. 
My parents, however, had considerable skill them- 
selves as nurses, knew something of the use of 
ordinary medical remedies, with several of which 
we were provided ; and they had in addition brave, 
trustful hearts and quite an amount of good com- 
mon sense. My father's treatment of the patients 
was successful, and in about two weeks I began to 
recover, and mother shortly after. 

During our sickness, our Indian friends were 
down from their village on their summer hunt, and 
camped near our house, and of course came to visit 
us. We had been greatly annoyed by the injury 
of our garden by deer, whose depredations were 
committed in the night. Knowing the skill of the 
Indians in detecting trails, my father took two of 
our Indian visitors into the garden, and pointed 
out to them the damage done. The two men walked 
through the garden looking carefully at the tracks, 
consulted together a moment, and then said: "There 
are two; one has gone north, the other east," point- 



46 RECOLLECTIONS. 

ing in the different directions. Mounting their 
ponies they rode away in the directions indicated, 
and in less than an hour each had returned with a 
deer. This ended the poaching on the garden. 

The day following, the head of the clan, a sub- 
chief called Be-kik-a-nin-ee, came bringing a deer 
just killed. After selling us one quarter, he care- 
fully took out the tenderloin, and presented it to 
my father saying: "It for sick squaw." He 
directed that it should be well boiled, and some of 
the soup made from it given to my mother, remark- 
ing in a plaintive way: "May-be she get well." 
This Indian had been in the British army, and had 
been wounded in the battle of the river Baisin. 
This accounted for his being able to speak English. 

I may say here that the following fall while my 
father was in the woods, bee hunting, and about 
three miles from home, he met our old friend Be- 
kik-a-nin-ee on horseback, hunting deer. As soon 
as they came in sight of each other, the Indian 
wheeled his pony and came dashing up rapidly, 
jumped off and saluted him, by extending both 
hands and exclaiming: "How-te-too! How-te-too! 
How-te-too!" He then asked: "Keene-squaw- 
Nepoo?" (Did your wife die?) 

"No," replied my father; "she is nearly well." 

"Yeep! Yeep! Yeep!" he shouted, "Me go see 
her." And mounting his pony he laid whip for 
our house, which he reached on a quick run. 
When he saw my mother up and busy around the 
house, this manly fellow appeared as much pleased 
as if he were conscious of some relationship be- 
tween them. 



EECOLLECTIONS. 47 



CHAPTEE IV. 

HIHE fall of 1823, following my mother's recov- 
ery, was one of special religious anxiety with 
her. It had been her earnest prayer, ever since 
leaving Vermont, that the Lord would enable 
the family in that new country to maintain a true, 
religious life. Now she began to plead still more 
earnestly, that there might also be public worship 
in the settlement, and an acknowledgment of God 
in the neighborhood. To this end she saw that a 
preacher must be sent, and a preaching place estab- 
lished, and for this she prayed. 

Late in the afternoon of a day in the early No- 
vember, while busy as she was wont to be, in her 
household care, a stranger knocked at the door. 
Before my mother there stood a tall, straight, 
gaunt man. He was clad in well worn Kentucky 
jeans, deer skin moccasins, coon skin cap and a 
rifle in his hand. 

A few moments' conversation gave to my mother 
the information that he was a Methodist local 
preacher, that his name was Levin Green, that he 
and his family, with his brother-in-law, George 
Stewart and family, were camped on Dutchman's 
creek, sixteen miles above on the Illinois river, 
that he was looking for a settlement, and that he 



48 BECOLLECTIONS. 

and Mr. Stewart would proceed at once to put up 
a house for winter. 

Judge of my mother's delight and surprise at 
this direct answer to her prayers. Here was the 
preacher — and she quickly had it all arranged, and 
an appointment for preaching in my father's log 
cabin was given out for the next Sunday. In her 
eighty-ninth year my dear mother would joyfully 
tell of this circumstance — of God's goodness and 
faithfulness, as the hearer and answerer of prayer — 
and of her anxiety then, that her boys should not 
grow up without the public means of grace ; and of 
Levin Green's preaching and the good influence 
resulting therefrom. 

The arrangements for settling his family were 
soon made. They had traveled by canoe from be- 
low St. Louis, and with the assistance of my 
father's team and our united help, they were 
brought safely from our landing, (Fredericks- 
burgh). The two families were accommodated for 
the winter, in the house built by the Turners. 

On that first Sabbath in November, 1823, the 
Avhole settlement of thirty souls turned out, and we 
had a warm, earnest, pointed sermon. This was 
the first sermon preached west of the Illinois river. 
I well remember, that my heart was much moved 
under that sermon and that when, after it, he be- 
gan to sing: "There is a fountain filled with blood," 
and to pass around shaking hands with all in the 
house, I ran out of doors fearing that my emotions 
would overcome me, should I remain. 

Another appointment was made for preaching 



RECOLLECTIONS. 49 

in two weeks, and thereafter was regularly con- 
tinued. 

Levin Green belonged to that remarkable class 
of men, so well known on the frontier line of ad- 
vancing civilization, previous to the advent of 
steam, as pioneers. Born where the howl of the 
wolf and the war-whoop of the savage were well- 
known sounds ; accustomed to supplying the larder 
from the chase, and to eating bread made of meal 
manufactured by the "hominy mortar" or hand 
mill; men, whose perceptive faculties were keenly 
developed, by the new and strange surroundings 
of their exposed lives, and whose resources, men- 
tal and physical, were by the very exigencies 
pressing upon them, nearly always equal to the 
demand. 

Our preacher, Levin Green, sprang from an an- 
cestry which had been on the frontier from the set- 
tling of Maryland and Virginia. He had stopped 
for a time in Kentucky; then on to southern Illinois; 
and thence to Missouri, leaving that state on its 
becoming slave territory; he now sought a home on 
the frontier of western Illinois. 

He could barely read intelligently, having had 
no literary or scholastic opportunities, but his 
natural ability, to memorize and to use what little 
he had acquired, was above the average. It made 
but little difference to him that the "King's Eng- 
lish" was murdered, in almost every sentence, he 
did not know it; and but few of his hearers were 
any wiser than he. 

To him, God, eternity, death, the resurrection, 



50 RECOLLECTIONS. 

the judgment, Heaven and hell, were vivid and 
solemn realities. In many of his discourses, he 
spoke as if these were actually present, being 
seen and felt by him. 



EECOLLECTIONS. 51 



CHAPTEE V. 

TO EE hunting, by which the settlers obtained 
J^ marketable honey and bees-wax which when 
taken to St. Louis could be traded for tea, sugar 
and other necessaries, was largely pursued, and it 
was the only way of obtaining supplies. 

Money was not to be had. There was none, ab- 
solutely none, in the country. 

Mr. Eggleston and my father went into partner- 
ship in this business, while another firm was 
formed by the three unmarried men, McCartney, 
Gooch and Beard, the latter afterwards became the 
proprietor of Beardstown. This firm sent, that 
fall, twenty-seven barrels of honey and several 
thousand pounds of bees-wax to market. 

Bees were then so abundant that it was no un- 
usual thing to find ten swarms in a day, and six- 
teen had been found. The yield of honey varied 
from one quart to thirty-six gallons per tree. 

In the spring of 1824 our settlement was still 
further and very pleasantly increased by the mov- 
ing over of Mr. Nathan Eels and family. 

This, my brothers, my sister and myself, con- 
sidered a most fortunate addition, as Mr. Eels' fam- 
ily included six boys and two girls. We now num- 
bered with those already named as settlers, and 



52 RECOLLECTIONS. 

Mr. Thomas McKee and Willis O'Neal, the two 
last were about six miles south of us, all told, ten 
families in the Hobart settlement. 

On their annual winter hunt, the Indians, who 
occupied their camping ground one mile south of 
us, were frequent visitors. One day our old friend 
Be-kik-a-nin-ee called and stated, that the next day 
he intended to bring over his two wives on a visit 
to my mother. And the following day they came 
in good season, arrayed in their very best style — 
paints, brooches, broadcloth and calico. As Be- 
kik-a-nin-ee talked some English and we had 
learned a little Indian, we could and did keep 
up quite a conversation. 

In the course of the visit mother inquired of the 
chief, which of his wives he loved the best. 

This was a poser, and brought a very serious ex- 
pression to his face. The squaws meanwhile look- 
ing on and listening with evident interest. 

The husband of these two wives, however, proved 
himself equal to the occasion. 

He looked at them fixedly a moment, then turn- 
ing to my mother said with a solemnity of manner 
that was quite impressive: "They are both good, 
very good; they chop wood, dress the skins, cook 
the meat and build the ivigwam; that one, (the 
oldest) very good to take care of pappoose; that 
one, pointing to the other, very good, too ; she work, 
but she tee-hee-hee too much." 

Before leaving for the hunt, Be-kik-a-nin-ee 
brought some sacks of dried corn and beans, and 
asked to leave them in our loft or attic, until his 



KECOLLECTIONS. 53 

return in the spring. Permission was readily 
granted and they were carried up the ladder and 
carefully stored away. 

On the return of the band in the spring, we were 
first made aware of their arrival by seeing their 
horses turned out on the prairie. The day following 
Be-kik-a-nin-ee, with others came to our house to 
inquire about the sacks which he had left. Father 
told him they were all right, and sent me up to 
hand them down. The Indian received them with 
evident satisfaction; took them out into the lane 
and placing them down in a pile, while the other 
Indians formed a circle around them, he made the 
following speech: 

"There," said he, "you said last fall, when I left 
these sacks of corn and beans here, that I would 
never see them again; that 'Postonie's' pappooses 
would eat them all up. I told you that they would 
not. Now you see they have not touched them. 
You have eaten your corn and beans all up, and 
you have none; I left mine here and now I have 
plenty." 

"Yeep! Yeep! Yeep!" said he as he swung his 
arm over his head and uttered his exclamations of 
triumph. 

The result of this was that the next fall, our loft 
was packed with more than fifty sacks: the corn 
and beans of most of the band. This practice of 
voluntary storage, and trust in my father's honor, 
was continued until the tribe removed to the 
Indian Territory. 

In the fall of 1823 a school was opened in the 



54 KECOLLECTIONS. 

settlement, and W. H Taylor employed as teacher. 
This was the first school west of the Illinois river, 
We had about this time among us a young man, 
Isaac M. Bouse, a famous turkey hunter. He 
boarded with us and at my mother's suggestion he 
would, on almost any day, after an absence of an 
hour, bring in two or three fine turkeys. So that, 
during his stay with us, we fared sumptuously. 

Accessions to the settlement were now becoming 
numerous. 

David E. and Thomas Blair, Jacob White, Wil- 
liam, Jeol and Biggs Pennington, John Beeves, 
Samuel and Manlove Horney, J. D. Manlove and 
others came. These attracted their relatives 
and friends, and soon arrivals were no longer a 
novelty. 

A ferry was established at Downing' s landing, 
by Thomas Beard & Co., and the name was 
changed to Beardstown. 

In the meantime Cupid had been busy at his old 
trade in the hearts of Mr. Samuel Gooch and my 
cousin Miss Buth Powers, and in due time, our 
first wedding, in what is now Schuyler Co., was 
solemnized by Bev. Levin Green. 

About the same time a new wonder arrived. In 
the home of Mr. and Mrs. Ephraim Eggle- 
ston, a baby was born, and this little girl was the 
first white child born in Schuyler county. 

In the spring of 1824, my father organized and 
superintended the first Sunday school in the coun- 
ty. It numbered about fifteen members, and had 
a salutary influence in the community. 



RECOLLECTIONS. 55 

It has been stated by another chronicler of these 
early days, that the first Sunday school in Schuy- 
ler, was organized by David Manlove; this is a 
mistake, as at this time D. Manlove had not yet 
come into that part of the country. So that when- 
ever credit appertains to the organization of the 
first Sunday school in Schuyler Co., belongs to 
Calvin Hobart, my honored father. 



56 RECOLLECTIONS. 



CHAPTEE VI. 

71 T the time of which I am now about to speak, 
fa) I was in my thirteenth year. From our first 
coming west, I had been conscious of what I can- 
not better describe than by calling it a hunger for 
knowledge. This wide world, that was lying all 
about me; its great rivers and mountains, its mil- 
lions of people, its kings and countries. What 
were they? Who were they? How did they 
acquire power ? What was the history of all these 
things ? 

These and a thousand other questions clamoring 
for an answer within me, led me to devour our own 
limited assortment of books and to long for more. 

It had been my practice, to call upon each family 
so soon as they moved into the neighborhood, and 
to borrow all the books they posessed, which I had 
not already read. This I continued to do until 
1826, when up to that time, I believe, I had read 
every book which had been brought into the coun- 

ty- ' 

This primitive "circulating library" although 
it had many dificiencies, was in many respects of 
great advantage to me. It however led me off, in- 
to too great an extreme in some directions, while, 
in others, it left me in ignorance of many things 



KECOLLECTIONS. 57 

which I needed to know. On the whole, it largely 
increased my world of thought, and improved my 
stock of knowledge. 

Pilgrim's Progress, I read in my tenth year as a 
veritable history, and thought, when Christian and 
Faithful had been imprisoned by Giant Despair, 
and almost murdered — and, then after, when Chris- - 
tian said, "I have a key in my bosom, which will un- 
lock any door:" — "What a simpleton! It would be 
no great matter if you were killed, when you 
knew you had a key to let you out and didn't use it!" 

Weem's Marion, I almost knew by heart, so also 
his life of Washington, Goldsmith's histories of 
Greece, Rome and England were devoured. A fine 
work on Heathen mythology, was much enjoyed. 
Guthrie's Geography of fifteen hundred pages, only 
stimulated my appetite for more of the same de- 
finite information, and which was gratified soon 
after, by the perusal of a still larger work combin- 
ing Geography and History, borrowed from Squire 
Davis. 

The last named work gave me the best idea of the 
political changes in Europe, from the fifth to the fif- 
teenth century, that I think I have ever had. Lo- 
renzo Dow's Cosmopolite, bound with Peggy Dow's 
vicissitudes, gave me much pleasure. The burning 
zeal of Dow, and the fervent piety of Peggy, made 
impressions upon my heart and life that have not 
and never will be erased. Many times, while 
reading, I was blinded by the tears which I could 
not keep from flowing. An increasing earnest- 
ness in prayer and desire to have my life right in 

5 



58 RECOLLECTIONS. 

the sight of the Lord, were the beneficial results 
produced. 

During the summers, thunder storms were fre- 
quent, and of great severity. Though I did not like 
to acknowledge it, I had a great dread of them. So 
to protect myself, I had a habit on these occasions 
of taking my Bible, and sitting down as closely as 
possible by my dear mother's side and reading 
until the storm was over; thinking that if killed 
with lightning while reading God's Word, it 
would be bettter with me than otherwise, and also 
that God would, if I were so employed, be less 
likely to permit the lightning to injure me. 

In my thirteenth and fourteenth years my reli- 
gious convictions were deep, and my heart tender. 
Thoughts of eternity, Heaven and hell, so im- 
pressed me that I could find relief only in secret 
prayer, then the burden would for a time be lifted ; 
many a night, during these years, I have lain 
awake weeping and praying until my pillow was 
wet with my tears. 

And yet through all this, such was my pride, or 
sensitiveness, bashfulness or cowardice, or all 
combined, that I would not permit any one to 
speak to me on the subject of personal religion, 
without in some way antagonizing it. Nor did 
I let any one know during those years what my 
real feelings were. 

This condition, which was known only to my- 
self, and which, it ought to have been overcome, 
either by admonition, or consciousness of duty, 
was an occason of loss, and deprived me of the 



RECOLLECTIONS. 59 

great privilege of serving God in my boyhood, 
with an assurance then that I was His child re- 
deemed by the blood of the Son of God. 

I feel on reviewing the past, as if I had by a 
strange willfulness, or obstinacy or bashfulhess, 
cheated myself of, at least five years of earnest re- 
ligious life. 

To meet the growing necessities of our growing 
settlement, father had built a band mill, a primi- 
tive affair, driven by horse power, which would 
grind two or three bushels of corn an hour. 

This was of much benefit to the neighborhood, 
though it proved of but little pecuniary advantage 
to its owner. Before its construction, we had been 
dependent on hominy mortars, tin graters or hand 
mills, for our bread. This was the first mill in the 
county, and my father the first millwright. 

His next enterprise was in company with two 
other men, to get out a raft of logs. These were 
cut along the Illinois river. Upon the raft were 
placed several thousand staves — intended for the 
St. Louis market. In April they were taken down 
and sold, which sale procured a supply of goods 
and groceries for the season. 

During these years, had the opportunity been 
afforded, my brother Norris and myself would 
have become expert hunters, the game was so very 
abundant. As it was, we took the barrel out of an 
old musket stock — (Queen's Arms') and tied in, an 
old rifle barrel, brought up by the Turners — 
improvised a pair of bullet molds, and with this 



60 RECOLLECTIONS. 

unsightly affair, furnished a plentiful supply of 
prairie chickens. 

In the spring of 1824 we enlarged the farm by 
breaking about thirty acres and putting the whole, 
into corn and oats. 

The crops were good and food abundant, but 
there was no cash value for anything. Corn was, 
in trade, valued at five cents a bushel, oats so 
plenty that there was nobody to buy. Good cows 
with calves, eight dollars in trade, and every thing 
else cheap in proportion. 

We procured our amunition by hunting racoons 
and foxes, and selling their skins at St. Louis. 
This for my brother and myself was fine sport, 
and at it we became quite successful. 

Father, during the winter and spring, was mostly 
occupied, either by working at his trade in Beards- 
town, rafting, hunting bees, or disposing of the re- 
sults of his labor at St. Louis; while the enlarging 
of the farm, plowing, hoeing, etc., was done by my 
twin brother and myself, under the supervision of 
our mother. 

Before the sickly season came, my father re- 
turned home, as it had been ascertained that but 
few could remain on the river during June and 
July without running the risk of being taken down 
with some form of bilious disease, usually chills, 
shaking ague or bilious fever. 

Father's return home, was joyfully hailed by us 
all, but by no one, I fancied, more than by myself. 

There had been from my earliest recollection a 
feeling of companionship between my dear father 



EECOLLECTIONS. 61 

and myself which was to me a source of great de- 
light. From the fact that I had always been 
larger and stouter than my twin brother, I had 
been usually the one selected to go with him when 
help was needed; and so had come to be depended 
on, in our early boyhood, when the work required of 
us was expected to be done. 

In my father's absence, I was "the miller" at the 
band mill, so his coming home during the winter 
released me from this duty, and was improved by 
Norris and myself in trapping quails and rabbits, 
and in preparing flax for spinning. Another oc- 
cupation, at that time, was in assisting mother in 
her part of the labor of preparing material for the 
clothing of the family. 

This consisted in preparing the flax, carding the 
tow, helping to put in the web, and an occasional 
hour at the spinning wheel, at which, I must con- 
fess I was, in my own estimation, an awkward 
hand. But we were brought up to be industriously 
occupied, and to contribute, so far as we were able, 
to the welfare and comfort of the family. Even 
our recreations, and of these we had an abund- 
ance, and all that our childhood and growing years 
demanded, were to be made conducive to our own 
and others' advantage. 

We knew almost nothing of fun and nonsense, 
which means too often a getting rid of time, be- 
cause we were little folks. And to habits of in- 
dustry, acquired in youth, and to some proper val- 
uation of the importance of time, I am indebted 
for whatever I have been able to accomplish in 



62 RECOLLECTIONS. 

after years, that has been of service to others, and 
satisfaction to myself. The associations of these 
days of boyhood and early yonth were in some 
sense peculiar. Around us mingled two tides, or 
essentially different types of life. The New Eng- 
land, or Puritan, called Yankee, and the Southorn. 
The latter, especially, were of that class, who, from 
their abhorrence of slavery, sought a home free 
from its influences. 

The Yankee, with his characteristics of thrift, 
shrewdness and enterprise, regarded the person of 
another as sacred. His differences, if settled at 
all, must be settled by law. He could talk, scold, 
or even quarrel, but never did he think of defend- 
ing his rights vi ei armis. 

The Southorn, with his generosity and hospi- 
tality, thought nothing sacred except his reputa- 
tion and his word. He never questioned a man's 
veracity, unless he intended to fight him the next 
moment; nor did he allow his own word to be dis- 
puted by any one, without like Eoderick Dhu, set- 
ling that matter on the spot. 

Growing out of these differing peculiarities, the 
settlers in our community were formed, ere long, 
into two social circles; the one composed of 
Yankees of strictly moral and religious habits ; the 
other given to various excesses, among which were 
drinking, gambling, dancing, &c. Hence our 
associates were selected from the families of the 
religious, and were, in the main, free from vicious 
habits. To this, which must be attributed to the 
sterling integrity of our parents, I owe it, that I 



RECOLLECTIONS. 63 

was preserved from the vices, which ruin so many 
young lives, and lead so rapidly to their destruc- 
tion. 

Now, in my seventy-fourth year, I take pleasure 
in recording that, through the grace of God and 
the avoidance of contaminating influences in youth 
and early manhood, I have the pleasure of looking 
back on a life of social purity — not stained or 
marred by dancing, swearing, drinking or gam- 
bling. From all these evil practices, which 
swarmed around our young settlement, my life 
has been free. 

To me, as I regard it, this experience is full of 
encouragement to parents and guardians, who in 
humble dependence upon God and the promises of 
His holy word, are adding to their example, their 
own earnest faithful efforts to train their children 
in the fear of the Lord. As is the sowing, so is 
the reaping, and this is eminently applicable to 
parents who permit their children to form vicious 
habits, or who allow them to mingle with improper 
associates in their youth. Children taught obedi- 
ence to parental law, are prepared to render obedi- 
ence to the laws of God and man, and they only 
are likely to have a prosperous and useful life. 

In the fall of 1825, my father sold the farm on 
which we had lived two years, and from which we 
had gathered three harvests, and then estimated to 
be the best farm in the county. At the same time 
he purchased the southeast quarter of seventeen, 
and immediately adjoining it on the east, the im- 



64 EECOLLECTIONS. 

provements on the southwest quarter of sixteen, 
first settled by Mr. Eggleston. 

We now began to enlarge the farm on sixteen 
and also to open and build on seventeen. Pushing 
matters as rapidly as possible, in the spring of 
1826, we moved on to section seventeen. At the 
same time we arranged for my grandparents, who 
had for some time, indeed, since the marriage of 
their granddaughter, Ruth Powers, to Mr. Gooch, 
lived with them, hereafter to make their home 
with us. 

We also commenced to build a horse mill, to be 
run by a forty-four foot wheel. To do this it was 
necessary to manufacture the mill-stones from 
boulders in the neighborhood. This was done dur- 
ing the winter, and the only "smith's" shop where 
tools could be repaired was six miles south of us. 
It was therefore necessary that my brother and 
myself should travel this distance every other day, 
to keep the tools in repair. This we did on foot, 
not a house on the way. On these trips, which 
were mostly through the forest, it was no uncom- 
mon thing to see hundreds of turkeys, and scores 
of deer, while wolves, foxes and smaller game 
abounded. A fall of snow would often reveal the 
fact that all our former calculations of their plen- 
tifulness was an under-estimate. 

The following spring, immigration increased 
largely, and new settlers arrived in swarms. 

In August Rev. Wm. See, then stationed on the 
Peoria circuit, which extended a hundred miles 
along the east side of the Illinois river, came on 



EECOLLECTIONS. 65 

an exploring expedition across to the west side, 
down by way of Lewiston to my father's house. 
In some way, notice had been received of his com- 
ing, and a two days' meeting had been appointed. 

Quite a number of Methodist people were now 
in the settlement, and a church was on this occa- 
sion organized of over twenty members. All 
joined by letter except W. H. Taylor, who united 
on probation, and was converted a few days after- 
wards. This was the first conversion in the coun- 
ty, and I think the first west of the Illinois river. 

In the spring of 1827, my father moved his build- 
ings from his first location on section seventeen to 
the west side where there was a fine spring of 
water, and more desirable surroundings. The 
house which he then built, and which he occupied 
while he lived, was built of logs. It was forty-five 
feet long, and contained three apartments. The 
east room was occupied by my grandparents, and 
the middle one was our parlor and guest chamber. 

The mill, on which we had been working, was 
started in the spring and was of great value to the 
adjoining country, as an inducement to hundreds 
to settle. It was also a financial success. Peo- 
ple living at a distance of forty and sixty miles 
came with corn and wheat to be ground; for to 
its other conveniences was added a "bolt," turned 
by hand, as wheat was now raised in abundance. 

Our house, which had been the preaching place 
from the time of the first sermon by Levin Green, 
was now the regular place for preaching by the 
circuit preachers, who came once in three weeks; 



66 EECOLLECTIONS. 

the intervening Sabbath's service being held in the 
same place by Levin Green and others. 

One beautiful Sunday in August, after a search- 
ing sermon by Levin Green, when the congrega- 
tion had all dispersed, a young man named Joseph 
Reno, remained seated in the back part of the 
room. My mother observing him, with his face 
buried in his hands, spoke to him, when with 
trembling voice and flowing tears he said: "Aunt 
Sally, I want you and Uncle Calvin to pray for 
me." These were the names by which my parents 
were known througout that part of the country. 
Young Reno's request was immediately complied 
with. Earnest prayer commenced, not only for his 
conversion, but for a general reformation in the 
neighborhood. This was the beginning of one of 
the most sweeping revivals I have known. It con- 
tinued for over two years ; spread through all the 
settlement, and hundreds were converted. 

During the meetings of those two years, the cries 
of seekers, the prayers of Christians, and the songs 
and exultant shouts of the converted might have 
been heard at a great distance. Nearly all who 
were converted, united with the church and were 
steadfast, proving the genuineness of their con- 
version by upright lives, or glorious and triumph- 
ant deaths. 

During these stirring times, my own religious 
life was to me then, and is to me still, an unsolved 
enigma. My heart was in the work — I was pleased 
to see it prosper. I was in the habit of attending 
all the meetings, and when I saw a "sinner" begin 



RECOLLECTIONS. 67 

to tremble, and endeavor to hide his tears, I would 
quietly slip around to some of the "brethren" and 
ask them to go and talk to such and such a one. 
Then I would watch while these were being led to 
the mourner's bench, observing them with the 
keenest interest, and finally when they had strug- 
gled through and were converted, I was almost as 
ready to shout as the converts themselves. And 
yet I did not yield, nor confess to any one that I 
wanted to be a Christian, though keeping up all the 
time in secret a form of prayer. 

My brother Norris became an earnest seeker for 
many months, but refusing to join the church 
when he knew that it was his duty to do so, he did 
not find the blessing which he sought. 

Our first quarterly meeting in Schuyler county 
was held in 1827, by the renowned Peter Cart- 
wright, at the house of Levin Green. At this 
quarterly meeting occurred the first baptism in the 
county, and we now considered the Methodist 
Episcopal church as established in the county. 
The first class organized by William See, at our 
house, had now grown into three classes. Regular 
circuit preaching, first by Rev. William Medford 
and then by Asa D. West, the present cir- 
cuit preacher, and our settlement a regular ap- 
pointment on the Atlas circuit. And of all those 
who rejoiced in this progress of the church and 
spread of the truth, there was not one so delighted 
as my dear mother. 

• In the fall of 1827, I accompanied my father to 
St. Louis. We went down the river in a skiff, 



68 EECOLLECTIONS. 

camping out and shooting geese and ducks in 
abundance. The day after our arrival, father went 
down to Carmi, about a hundred miles further on, 
to attend to some business matters, leaving me for 
several days in the city with friends. While there, 
I soon fell in with a lad of about my own age, and 
together we took a job of cleaning out a keel-boat, 
and taking care of it while it was being loaded for 
the Missouri river fur trade, earning about two 
dollars apiece. While engaged in this work, one 
day, the steamboat, "America," the best then on 
the river, came in from Pittsburg, and landed 
immediately below our keel-boat. At night we 
built a large fire on the shore, around which soon 
gathered ten or a dozen lads of about our own age. 
When there, enjoying ourselves, we were startled 
by a splash in the water and the sight of a man 
just disappearing under the guards of the boat, 
and sinking in water about fifty feet deep, where 
was a perpendicular lime-stone bank. The largest 
boy of the company, and who happened to be near- 
est to the river, rushed down and fortunately 
caught the man by his clothes and pulled him out. 
Dripping, and as we soon found drunk, as well, we 
helped him to the fire. While the poor, unfor- 
tunate was there warming and drying himself, he 
said to his rescuer in a hiccoughing way, for his 
plunge had not quite sobered him: "I am very 
much obliged to you, my young friend, for pulling 
me out of the river." "Yes, I guess you are, or 
ought to be," returned the boy. "If I had not 
caught you just as I did, I expect you would have 



EECOLLECTIONS. 69 

been in hell now, and the old devil would have had 
you on a big pitchfork, and would have been roast- 
ing you." To this sentiment, the wretched man 
appeared to assent, while the company of boys 
around the fire, by their seriousness and gravity 
seemed to appreciate the point. 

On my father's return we made a fine sail up 
the river, making thirty miles the first day. 

On this trip when near the mouth of the Illinois, 
father shot an immense grey eagle, measuring be- 
tween seven and eight feet from tip to tip. 

About this time he also bought for my brother 
and me, our first rifles. My earnings in boat 
cleaning while in St. Louis procured the ammuni- 
tion, and we felt, that at last, we were well equiped 
for hunting. 

Thus prepared, we took good heed that what- 
ever time could be spared that winter and afterwards 
from caring for stock and our usual winter work, 
should be devoted to hunting. We looked mostly 
for turkeys, raccoons, foxes and similar game, and 
of these we killed a great many, and considered 
ourselves quite expert hunters. 

On one afternon, when we had each killed a tur- 
key and were nearing home, just about dark, we 
saw a large owl fly into the dense top of a lofty 
elm tree. "Stop!" said my brother, who stood 
ready to discharge his gun. "Let me shoot him!" 

Instantly he fired into the tree top, when to 
our surprise down fell the owl, shot as centrally 
as if Norris had known just where he sat, when 
the fact was, it was too dark to see anything clearly. 



70 RECOLLECTIONS. 

A good opportunity was, this winter, afforded us 
of exercising our skill as marksmen. We were 
then wintering a herd of cattle in the Illinois 
bottom, and were in the habit of salting them 
every two weeks. During that season I killed 
fifty-five turkeys, six being the largest number 
killed in any one day. 

In the spring of 1828 Norris and I told 
father that he might consider himself excused 
hereafter from farm work; that he might employ 
himself as he thought fit and that we would attend 
to the stock and the work. 

This agreement, which gratified father very 
much, was faithfully adhered to by us as long as 
the family remained unbroken, and was a helpful 
arrangement to all. The next spring we were 
early at work, putting in the crop and enlarging 
the farm. We pushed business so far ahead, that 
we also found time to attend school three months 
during the summer. 

But in order to do this, and keep everything 
up, it was necessary to plow and hoe from four 
until eight in the morning, and from five until 
eight in the evening. This we considered no bur- 
den and accomplished it with satisfaction, glad of 
an opportunity for self improvement, and literary 
culture. 

In July I was attacked with the ague, and had 
seventy-two shakes in seventy-two days. This re- 
duced my strength very much and released me 
for a time from labor. 

But nobody on this account thought me entitled 



RECOLLECTIONS. 71 

to much sympathy or attention, nor considered 
that I was very sick. 

It was only «the "ager" — which everybody had, 
and which would end when frost came, which I 
found that it did to my great relief. The next 
fall I made a very pleasant trip to St. Louis with 
my father, in a large canoe or pirogue, and which 
trip resulted in making me somewhat skilled as a 
waterman. 

In the fall and winter of twenty-eight and twen- 
ty-nine, A. W. Dorsey taught the school in our 
neighborhood which I then attended. 

From Mr Dorsey I first heard of Abraham Lin- 
coln, who had been one of his pupils the previous 
winter. 

Mr. Dorsey remembered young Lincoln 
kindly, spoke of him frequently, and would say, 
"Abraham Lincoln is one of the noblest boys I 
ever knew and is certain to become noted if he 
lives." 

I might be permitted to add here, although it 
may be considered to savor of egotism, that Mr. 
Dorsey also spoke of my resemblance to 
Lincoln on several occasions. He would some- 
times natter my vanity, by saying, "that he would 
be greatly mistaken if Chauncey Hobart and Abra- 
ham Lincoln would not each be heard from in this 
world," after a while. The July following, both of 
my brothers were laid aside with the ague. 

This sickness of theirs, afforded me an oppor- 
tunity for a playful retaliation of their boyish 
pranks on me the previous year, when I had been 



72 RECOLLECTIONS. 

similarly laid aside from work. Then when too 
feeble to run, they would amuse themselves by 
throwing squashes or other missiles at me, just to 
laugh at my awkwardness — in trying to avoid 
them. 

But I was merciful in my fun at their expense, 
as I could appreciate their feelings, from my own, 
the year before, and preferred to do what I could 
to make their confinement endurable, rather than 
miserable. 



KECOLLECTIONS. 73 



CHAPTEK VII. 

71 BOUT the first of May 1831, the community 
©'I was startled with the announcement that the 
Indians, at and near Bock Island, under the leader- 
ship of their chief Black Hawk, were threatening 
the destruction of the whites in that vicinity; 
that the few regulars at Fort Armstrong, were un- 
able to bring them to order; and that a brigade of 
mounted volunteer riflemen, was to be raised, and 
marched immediately to the scene of action. This 
news was soon followed by the Governor's Proc- 
lamation and call for men. 

As soon as the call was issued I, announced my 
determination to go, as a volunteer. To this 
father at first was rather unwilling to assent, but 
when the time came, he not only consented that 
both my brother Norris and myself should go, but 
indeed felt strongly inclined to accompany us him- 
self. 

Our company of one hundred men was organized, 
by electing Hart Fellows captain, Wm. C. Balls 
first lieutenant, and all the other officers. 

Governor Joe Duncan took command, and, as our 
county lay immediately on the line of march to 
Bock Island, we were ordered to wait until the 



74 RECOLLECTIONS. 

brigade came, when we (Captain Fellows Co.) 
were made part of the "Fourth regiment, Illinois 
volunteers," fifteen hundred strong. 

We marched in four columns, the baggage train 
keeping the road, and two regiments on either 
side. Ours being the extreme left. 

To most of the men this going to war was a time 
of rare frolic and nonsense. To us frontier boys, 
accustomed, as we had been, "to roughing it," most 
of the time, and to all kinds of wind and weather, 
the camping out in blankets under the stars, and 
marching through heavy rains, were not considered 
hardships; we vastly enjoyed it; we thought it was 
royal fun. 

Guards and scouts, however, were regularly de- 
tailed, as if there was danger near; but nothing 
occurred to interrupt the jollity of the march to 
Rock Island, not even the occasional mishaps of 
some luckless wight, as when a stumbling or skit- 
tish horse would throw his rider, or some such 
accident. The catching of the "runaway" and the 
adjustment of the traps again, would serve but to 
increase the merriment. 

On our fourth night out, we were camped on the 
prairie, on the north side of Pope river, about 
thirty miles from Black Hawk's village on Rock 
river. During that day our scouts had captured 
and brought in two Indians who pretended to be 
Potawatamies, but who were in reality sent out by 
Black Hawk as spies, to ascertain the strength of 
the army approaching him. This started the re- 
port that there was a large body of Indians near us, 



RECOLLECTIONS. 75 

and that we might expect an attack that night. 
This some believed, but the most of the boys re- 
garded it as a ruse to try their temper, and laughed 
at it as a joke. Sure enough, about ten o'clock at 
night, the whole army was aroused by the firing of 
the guard, and the order was given to form in line 
immediately. Those of us who were expecting 
this, or something like it, regarded it as a false 
alarm to test the grit of the men, and, of course, 
we stood ready, firm and calm. A few, however, 
were terribly frightened, and felt inclined to show 
the white feather, so that after all, the false alarm, 
which it proved to be, answered the purpose for 
which it was gotten up, admirably. 

The next day, when about half way to the In- 
dian village, we were met by one of Gen. Gaines' 
staff officers, and were ordered to turn to the left, 
and camp on the Mississippi, about ten miles below 
Black Hawk's village. This was thought wise and 
politic, as it brought our army in full view of the 
Indians, and gave them an idea of our strength, and 
allowed them to leave in their canoes for the west 
, side of the Mississippi, if they would, and so avoid 
bloodshed. 

The following morning, as we marched up to- 
ward the village, Gen. Gaines left Fort Armstrong 
and came down towards the same point with his 
artillery, and opened fire, not on the village but 
on the hiding places of the Indians round about. 
This plan succeeded admirably, and the Indians 
took to their canoes and left. Our brigade then 
crossed Rock river by ford and ferry in one of the 



76 KECOLLECTIONS. 

most drenching rain storms, and camped that 
night, in the deserted bark huts of the town (Black 
Hawk's village. ) After destroying the corn fields 
we burned the village and then camped three miles 
above, where the city of Kock Island now stands. 
Word was soon afterwards sent to Black Hawk to 
come in and make a treaty. But this he refused 
to do, until told that "the wild men," (our brigade) 
would be sent after him if he did not. He then 
came in, and after several days were spent in 
parleying, he agreed that the Indians should not 
come on the east side of the Mississippi river, more 
than two at a time, unless they were permitted by 
the Indian agent. This ended our first campaign 
in the Black Hawk war, having been in the service 
about thirty days. 

Black Hawk's village was the largest Indian 
town in the west. It is supposed to be the place 
where, during the British war, Tecumseh had 
assembled all the western Indians and united them 
against the Americans. The band of which Black 
Hawk was chief, was composed of Sacs and Foxes, 
and was known as the British band. 

It is well known that when the northern part of 
Illinois was bought from the Indians, Black Hawk 
did not attend the treaty; would not and did not 
agree to sell, and refused to leave. But as all the 
tribe, except this one clan had sold, his stubborn- 
ness was not considered worthy of much attention. 
And so, when the settlers began to get near him 
again, he was as hostile as he dared to be, acting 
as if they were trespassers on his rights. On an 



EECOLLECTIONS. 77 

occasion of this kind, Gen. Gaines told him that 
if he did not behave, he would send the soldiers 
from the fort to make him. At this, Black Hawk 
scornfully dared him to execute his threat, saying 
menacingly: "If you do, I will make my squaws 
whip your regulars and run them .back to the fortt" 



78 RECOLLECTIONS. 



CHAPTEK VIII. 

C^OON after our return home, father engaged to 
^ assist our neighbor, Mr. Chadsey, in erect- 
ing and starting a saw mill, which the latter was 
building on Sugar creek, near the Illinois bottom. 
This was well known to be an unhealthy place. 
The sickly season was coming on, and we felt much 
anxiety as to his health, while thus occupied, know- 
ing that he was remaining there on this work at 
the peril of his life. But because of the warm 
friendship existing between Mr. Chadsey and him- 
self, the desire of the people to have a saw-mill 
started, his own need of lumber to finish a barn he 
had commenced building, and with a feeling, too, of 
security against the unwholesomeness of the loca- 
tion, as he had not been sick a single day since 
coming into the State, my father disregarded our 
warnings and fears, and remained at work until 
August, having then completed the mill. 

On his return home he was feeble and restless, 
and did not seem like his cheery self. Mother be- 
came at once alarmed, and anxious, and commenc- 
ed the use of all the remedies of which she knew, 
to nurse him back to health and strength. But 
her efforts were in vain. In a short time his 



EECOLLECTIONS. 79 

symptoms developed into a serious attack of bil- 
ious fever. 

The best physicians in the county were sent for, 
and all that skill could do, was done. Sympathiz 
ing friends by the hundreds were at hand, to do all 
that their kindness and good will could prompt. 
Probably there was scarcely a man in the county 
who had not been in some way helped and 
benefited by my father. This fact seemed at 
this time of our sorrow to unite the whole com- 
munity in an effort to lighten our burden, and to 
prevent, if possible the dreaded result. But it 
came. Nothing checked or seemed to modify the 
disease which had attacked him. It held on stead- 
ily to its relentless grasp, until about six o'clock 
on the afternoon of the twenty-seventh of August, 
when the great brave heart stood still. 

The mortal struggle ended, and the true noble 
soul, joined the unnumbered hosts of the glorified. 
He was hid from our sight: had entered that world 
where there is "no more death, and where sorrow 
and sighing are unknown." But he left us so 
lonely. He had only reached the age of fifty 
years, and, had always been so strong and vigorous. 
Of my father it may be truly said that, for moral 
integrity he has had few equals. He loved what 
ever was true, and just, and right, above every- 
thing else, and he hated the false, and the mean, 
with equal intensity. This phase of his character 
was the only occasion of an unkind feeling toward 
him so far as I have known. 

What he thought wrong he denounced, honestly 



80 EECOLLECTIONS. 

and fearlessly, in friends or enemies. And what he 
believed to be right, he unflinchingly upheld and 
approved, decidedly. 

No one mistook his position or needed to be in 
doubt as to where he stood on all moral questions. 

So that on this part of the battle field of life, a 
grander fight than his was never fought. 

More than fifty years have passed since that sad 
hour, when he was taken from our home and 
life, and in these years my opportunities for ob- 
serving character have been many and varied ; yet 
as a man and a citizen of elevated tone and princi- 
ple, and of unswerving adherance to what he be- 
lieved to be right, he is still my model. 

In his early Christian life, my father felt called 
to preach. This he shrank from, as involving, he 
thought, too many and too great responsibilities. 

On the birth of his twin sons, however, he 
solemnly dedicated them to the Lord, entreating 
Him to accept them for the work of the ministry in 
his place. 

My dear, honored, much loved father! Our re- 
union, and companionship will in due time be con- 
summated, and its unmeasured joy will be the 
counterpart of my unutterable sorrow at our part- 
ing. 

This sad event changed, probably, the entire 
course of my own, and brother's lives — all our 
plans were altered. 

It had been our purpose, when we came of age, 
to go to Texas, which was then a foreign country, 
and struggling for its independence. And we had 



KECOLLECTIONS. 81 

determined, when there, if energy and daring 
could win us honor or position to make these our 
own. 

But now we could not think of leaving mother, 
and the two younger children. Duty said, our 
place was to care for these, and so far as we 
might, to fill together a father's place to those he 
had left. 



82 RECOLLECTIONS. 



CHAPTER IX. 

n~7HE winter, following our great loss, was spent 
by us in getting in logs and sawing lumber, in 
order to complete the barn which father had be- 
gun. 

In the spring we had but just finished getting in 
the crop, when the whole country was again start- 
led by a call for a brigade of mounted volunteer 
riflemen to repulse the invasion of Black 
Hawk, who had crossed ^the Mississippi, fifteen 
hundred strong, and was marching up Bock river 
to the terror of the frontier settlements. 

To this call of Governor Reynolds, a quick re- 
sponse was made. Rushville, the county seat of 
Schuyler county, and Wo miles and a half from 
our home, was made the place of rendezvous. 

There the brigade was organized by electing 
Samuel Whiteside, general. Schuyler county fur- 
nished two companies. Samuel Hollingsworth 
was captain of the Rushville company. 

It was agreed between my brother and myself 
that I should volunteer, and he would remain at 
home to look after the family. I was elected cor- 
poral of Capt. Hollingworth's company. In four 
days we reached our first objective point, Oquakee. 



RECOLLECTIONS. 83 

We were then ordered to an island in Rock river, 
where was the village which we had destroyed the 
year before. 

We remained on this island five days until sup- 
plies arrived and then a battalion of infantry 
composed of regulars and volunteers was formed. 
Our supplies were mostly placed on board a keel- 
boat of which this battalion took charge, and we 
(Whiteside's brigade) were ordered up Rock river, 
in pursuit of Black Hawk and his band. 

General Atkinson, who commanded the expedi- 
tion, remained with the infantry and keel-boat, 
while General Whiteside was expected to keep in 
communication with the party on the river. 

This was too slow work for our boys on horse- 
back, and Whiteside determined to dash on to 
''Dixon's" ferry a hundred miles further up, al- 
though we had but three days rations with us. 

This point was reached on the third day; and 
we found Major Stillman, who had been there 
about four days, with two hundred and seventy- 
five men. 

These, being an independent battalion, they were 
ordered by Gov. Reynolds to proceed up Rock 
river as a scouting party, and learn what they 
could of the whereabouts of Black Hawk. 

Stillman left the next morning taking his bag- 
gage train and provisions along, while our brigade 
was obliged to wait for the keel-boat for supplies. 

In the mean time our rations ran short and no 
help could be had until the infantry came up with 
them. 



84 RECOLLECTIONS. 

The few hogs and cattle which the settlement of 
half a dozen families afforded were soon exhausted, 
and we were living on less than half rations, having 
really out ran our orders. About two o'clock on the 
third morning after Major Stillman had left, we 
were startled by the report of a straggler from 
Stillman's battalion stating that there had been a 
desperate fight with Black Hawk, and that Still- 
man and all his men with the exception of two or 
three were killed. And that the Indians, fifteen 
thousand strong, would be upon us before daylight. 

This aroused the camp. The men were sent to 
bring in the horses — many of them miles away. 

Our scanty breakfast was hastily eaten, and by 
sunrise we were two miles out on the prairie. 

During the march up Hock river to the battle 
field, we met squads of Stillman's men who were 
perfectly demoralized, and saying we would find 
Indians by the thousands just ahead of us. 

When we had proceeded about twenty miles we 
came upon the indications of the fight: dead 
horses, blankets, guns and other articles which 
had been dropped in the flight. And before we 
had reached Stillman's camp we had found the 
bodies of ten white men, and two Indians who had 
been killed. These we buried, and then camped on 
the battle field. 

We soon learned the particulars of the scrim- 
mage of the day before, and found that Black 
Hawk ha d vacated his camp and fled up the river 
to parts unknown. Our want of provisions pre- 
vented our following him, and we returned to Dixon. 



RECOLLECTIONS. 85 

Here we waited two days, when our supplies ar- 
rived. 

As our brigade had been called out for only 
ninety days, and as war was now a certainty, Gov- 
ernor Reynolds issued a proclamation for three 
brigades of mounted volunteers for six months to 
rendezvous at Ottowa. 

In the meantime Gen'l Whiteside was ordered 
to proceed up Rock river and Sycamore Creek, 
cross the big prairie to Fox river, and protect the 
frontier as much as possible until the other brig- 
ades should be organized. This was done, and on 
our meeting the brigades at Ottowa we were mus- 
tered out of service, and returned home. 

My brother Norris then volunteered, and spent 
the summer scouting along the frontier settlements 
between the Mississippi and Illinois rivers. 

In December, 1833, my mother was married to 
Joshua Ticknor, Esq. As the two younger children 
went with mother to the home of Mr. Ticknor, my 
brother and I were left to run the farm by our- 
selves. 



86 EECOLLECTIONS. 



CHAPTEE X. 

r[7HE year following this event was filled up with 
farm work, also by my brother's going to 
New Orleans on a flat boat, and by my teaching a 
three months, school. 

It was in the November of this year that there oc- 
curred that remarkable meteoric display, which 
has made memorable November thirteenth, 1833. 
On that wonderful occasion almost any point of 
the heavens on which the eye was fixed appeared 
as a centre from which the "stars" were shooting 
in all directions, and this continued from midnight 
until daylight. 

People were generally much alarmed. Horns 
were blown here and there to arouse the people. 
Many thought the day of judgement had come, 
and the end of all things was at hand. Others 
took this wonderful phenomenon as obtusely as a 
neighbor of mine who said, he thought that 
was the way the stars went out every morning. 

With myself and brother Truman, as we observ- 
ed it together, it was a matter of intense curiosity 
and interest, but without, to me, any feelings of 
alarm. 

I had been for some time previous to the events 



KECOLLECTIONS. 87 

already narrated, captain of a militia company, and 
being widely and favorably known throughout the 
country, my social and political prospects were 
rather flattering, having already held several 
offices of public trust. 

We had kept a large tent in order, on the camp 
ground, for mother, for several years, in which we 
had frequently entertained at a dinner as many as 
sixty persons. And yet in all these years although 
keeping up the habit of reading my Bible and of 
secret prayer, I had in no way committed myself 
outwardly to a religious life. 

In the latter part of February 1834 I had attend- 
ed a protracted meeting at Rushville, which had 
for some time previously been in progress under 
the conduct of Rev. Wm. C. Stribbling of Jackson- 
ville, Illinois, and T. N. Ralston and Peter R. 
Borein, the two last, being the preachers on the 
Rushville circuit. This meeting was held in the 
Eushville Court House. 

Sunday, February twenty-fifth, had been spent 
by myself and a party of young ladies and gentle- 
men in sleigh riding. We had come to Rushville, 
intending to attend church in the evening and ride 
home at night. 

Accordingly we went to church. In a moment, 
almost, after the text was announced, I found my- 
self intensely interested in the discourse that fol- 
lowed. Every thought was given to the subject 
treated. The text was from Rev. VI., 17: "For 
the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall 
be able to stand?" The divisions of the sermon 



88 RECOLLECTIONS. 

were: First, "Days of God's wrath;" second, 
"Great days of God's wrath;" third, "Greatest 
day of God's greatest wrath." 

The speaker was Wm. C. Stribbling. A tall 
spare man, with long face, large mouth and 
swarthy complexion. 

This awful theme was then in the hands of a 
master, and seldom has its presentation on that 
evening, been equaled. 

The parting heavens, the descending Judge, 
the angelic host, the arch-angelic shout, the 
resurrection trump, the rising dead, the triumph 
of the redeemed, and the wailing of the lost — were 
all brought before us, as in living reality. 

None, I think, seemed unmoved, while many 
cried aloud in terror, and agony. 

This discourse was followed by a powerful ex- 
hortation from Bro. Ealston, and then by an over- 
whelming pathetic and tender invitation to seek- 
ers, given by Bro. Borein. The sermon had stirred 
me mightily; the exhortation and invitation had 
deepened conviction until I was nearly on the 
point of yielding and going forward to the mourn- 
er's bench, determining almost to seek God then 
and there; but just at this moment a good brother, 
Ayers, a neighbor of mine, came to persuade me to 
go forward. This aroused my old, troublesome 
spirit of antagonism, and I refused to go, refused 
to commit myself. 

At the close of the meeting, however, and as I 
went out of the house, a terrible fearfulness seized 
me; an awful dread lest the day of grace had passed, 



RECOLLECTIONS. 89 

and that the door of mercy had been closed against 
me forever. I seemed to see, that if it were not 
already too late, this was God's last call to me. 
And from all my subsequent history I have every 
reason to believe that this was really so. I wept 
and prayed all the way home, and although it was 
a great cross to me, went and asked Bro. Ayers 
to come in and pray with me. My dear mother, 
who had returned home with me, also prayed for 
me most earnestly. For three days and nights my 
soul was in agony and distress, unutterable, inde- 
scribable; I read my Bible and prayed almost con- 
tinually. I attended the meeting the next evening, 
and contrary to all my former habits of taking a 
seat where I should not be observed or spoken to, 
I then took my place in the very front seat, and on 
the bench to which mourners would be invited. 
I knelt with these, prayed, sought, wrestled and 
used every means of grace within my knowledge. 
At the end of these three days the keenness of my 
agony passed away, and I was conscious of a little 
hope; but I was unwilling to accept this as con- 
version. 

On Monday night, February 26th, I joined the 
church as a seeker, thus committing myself pub- 
licly, and as fully as possible, to the cause of Christ. 

The protracted meeting ended; but still, as a 
seeker, I attended all the prayer and class-meetings 
within reach, as well as the preaching on the cir- 
cuit, and the private means of grace. 

In the meantime Bro. Borein had appointed a 
two days' meeting in MacDonough county, (a point 

7 



90 RECOLLECTIONS. 

on our circuit, ) to be held the tenth and eleventh of 
March. This appointment was fifteen miles away. 
The day before the meeting commenced, Bro. 
Wm. H. Taylor came and spent the night with me, 
and insisted on my going to the two days' meeting 
with him the next day. We talked together until 
a late hour that night. He understood my condition 
much better than I did, and among other things he 
told me that I must immediately begin to discharge 
duty by confessing Christ in public; that I must 
speak in the love-feast the next morning, at the 
meeting, and go right forward in the discharge of 
every public and private religious duty, leaving 
results with God. We went on, and the following 
morning he handed me, at the house of Bro. Jack- 
son, where we had stayed in MacDonough, the 
Bible, telling me to lead in family prayer. This I 
did not dare to refuse; so, taking the book, did the 
best that I could, but with much shrinking. At the 
love-feast I told the people in a broken sort of 
way, what my convictions and purposes were, and 
that I had determined to serve God. When, to my 
astonishment, on taking my seat, there came over 
me, and into my heart, a calm, sweet peace, and 
a consciousness that God was reconciled and that I 
was accepted of him such as I had not known be- 
fore. He became mine and I was His. This was 
the great event of my life; "old things had passed 
away, and indeed all things had become new," and 
from henceforth my one work was to serve God. 

On my return home, I erected the family altar, 
which has been a tower of strength and of comfort 



RECOLLECTIONS. 91 

to me from that day to this, and has never fallen 
down. 

My family, at this time, consisted of my aged 
grandmother, ninety-three years old; my sister 
Lizzie, who assisted in caring for our grandmother, 
and my youngest brother, Truman, who was attend- 
ing school and living with me. 

On the fifteenth of the following April, 1834, I 
was married to Miss Betsey C. Ticknor, eldest 
daughter of Joshua Ticknor, Esq., my stepfather. 
We made a happy household. Life, which, since 
the death of my father, and the marriage of my 
mother, had seemed desolate and often dreary, be- 
came full of the old time cheer and brightness, 
with the added joy of the Lord now in my soul. 

In May, my brother, N orris, returned from New 
Orleans, with health much impaired, and in the 
following August he was happily converted at a 
camp-meeting, held near Rushville, and united 
with the church; and in the following September 
he was married to Mary, youngest daughter of my 
stepfather, Joshua Ticknor, and sister of my wife. 
My sister, Elizabeth, and Greenburg G. Dorsey, 
Esq., being married at the same time and place. 

In the preceding June the cholera had broken 
out in Rushville. Many had died, and among the 
first that were attacked were about twenty men 
who were known to be habitual drunkards. This 
alarmed the people, who fled from the town in 
great numbers; but among those who, like brave 
men, stood at their posts, caring for the sick and 
burying the dead, were Rev. John Scripps and Bro. 



92 EECOLLECTIONS. 

Borein. It was hoped that this terrible scourge 
would not spread beyond the village, but it did. 
On the fifteenth of July, my nearest neighbor and 
good friend, Bro. Ayers, was attacked. I sat up 
with him until daybreak. He died soon after. 

In a few days my dear old grandmother died in 
her ninety-fourth year. She had survived her 
husband a year and a half. Her death was fol- 
lowed by that of father Ticknor. Here the disease 
seemed to stay, after having carried away about 
sixty persons. 

So terrible was the thought of this destroyer, 
that it was difficult to procure help to take care of 
the sick, or to perform the last sad rites for the 
dead. In the cases of three who died in our 
neighborhood, I took care of them alone, and was 
one of four, who laid them away until the morning 
of the resurrection. 

During these few terrible weeks our religious 
meetings were suspended, but with returning health 
they were resumed and with increased enjoyment. 



RECOLLECTIONS. 93 



OHAPTEE XL 

TN the June of which I spoke in the last chapter, I 
-*- had been appointed assistant class leader, and in 
the following September, steward. These official 
responsibilities were helpful by way of prompting 
me to duty, extending my acquaintance with the 
work and usages of the church, and accustoming 
me somewhat to public speaking and to leading in 
church matters. 

Our preacher, on the Kushville circuit, for 1834 
and 1835, was Kev. W. H. Window, a young man 
recently from England. Intellectually and theo- 
logically he was above mediocrity, but entirely 
unacquainted with our American frontier life and 
its peculiar usages. 

My duty as steward lead me to visit the circuit 
extensively; and as "the table expenses" of the 
pastor were collected mostly in provisions, and had 
to be taken to the preacher's home, I was fre- 
quently at his house, and our intercourse afforded 
me excellent opportunities for mental improvement. 

The leisure of the winter and spring was occu- 
pied in reading several theological works, and 
in attending the quarterly and two days' meet- 
ings on the circuit. To enable us to do this with- 



94 EECOLLECTIONS. 

out pecuniary loss, Norris and I were in the habit 
of plowing by moonlight, so as to gain time to at- 
tend the meetings on Saturday. 

In our neighborhood "class," several of us, among 
whom were my brother and myself, covenanted to 
visit and pray, each week, with some one of our 
neighbors, who was unconverted. This induced 
quite a revival spirit, and resulted in the conversion 
of a number at our class and prayer meetings. In 
the next year, June, 1835, Norris and myself were 
licensed to exhort by Bro. Window, having been 
recommended by the class. This was unexpected 
by me, and caused me to hesitate long about the 
propriety of accepting; but after humble, earnest 
prayer and many tears, I reasoned about it in this 
way: "If these good brethren think that I ought to 
exercise this gift, it is my duty to do the best I 
can, and at least give them a chance to correct their 
error, if they have committed one, in appointing me." 
Consequently I sent out three appointments for 
the next three Sabbaths, leaving one Sabbath in 
four to spend at home. These appointments were 
kept up during the summer, and were sometimes 
seasons of great liberty and religious enjoyment; 
and at other times, the heavens seemed brass and 
the earth iron, and I was much discouraged. But I 
considered it important that I should make a fair 
trial, so that the quarterly conference, when called 
upon to act in my case, might not be in ignorance, 
in regard to me, and so went on. 

Just before our fourth quarterly meeting, Bro. 
Window called and said that he should ask 



EECOLLECTIONS. 95 

the class to recommend me for license to preach. 
This I endeavored to persuade him not to do, tell- 
ing him that it was altogether improper. And al- 
though I was very weary, having had an unusually 
hard day's work, I rode two miles in the evening, 
with the intention of opposing this proposed re- 
commendation ; for as I saw it, I was not competent 
to preach. When the matter, however, was brought 
up I had a strange conviction that I must not say a 
word. And the result was, that the brethren very 
cordially recommended me. 

As this was what I had neither planned nor de- 
sired, nor made any calculations for, I shrank from 
it, oh, so much; but finally comforted myself by 
thinking: these good friends and kind brethren 
have done this for fear of hurting my feelings; 
when the quarterly conference comes to act on it, 
they will certainly see the impropriety of such a 
course, and will just renew my license as an ex- 
horter, and then I will be all right. 

The camp-meeting for the circuit that year was 
to be held at Pulaski, twenty miles from home. 
The membership of the circuit being about six 
hundred, and of the quarterly conf erence,over fifty. 
In due time (September, 1835,) the camp-meeting 
came on; and when my case came up in quarterly 
conference, I retired into a corn-field, and prayed 
most earnestly that God would interpose and guide 
in this affair, and that He would permit nothing im- 
proper or wrong to be done. Upon my return, I 
learned that Norris and myself had been licensed to 
preach, and also Bro. Granville Bond, whose case was 



96 RECOLLECTIONS. 

under consideration when I retired. Thus, almost 
against my own convictions, feeling myself un- 
worthy, and but poorly qualified to assume such 
serious responsibilities, I was, in obedience to what 
I dared not doubt to be the Godly judgment of my 
brethren and fathers in the church and the will of 
God, ushered into the ranks of the great, grand 
army of Methodist preachers. 

Our first work as local preachers, was to appoint 
a two days' meeting at Uncle Azel Dorsey's, twelve 
miles west of us. Bro. Bond, my brother and my- 
self had to assume the responsibilities of preaching 
until Sunday, when we had the promise of assist- 
ance from Rev's. D. B. Carter and W. H. Taylor. 
We entered upon this enlarged field of work with 
much solicitude and many prayers. As the idea of 
this meeting had originated with me, it was ar- 
ranged that I should preach the first sermon on 
Saturday, at eleven o'clock a. m. This I did as 
well as I could. We were looking for the promised 
help on Saturday, before the evening meeting, but 
as it did not come, my brother preached at night; 
and we had a time of much seriousness; the spirit 
of God being manifestly present. In the morning, 
we had a good love-feast, and Bro. Bond preached 
well. On Sunday morning Bros. Warner Oliver 
and C. J. Houts, exhorters, came ; the latter speak- 
ing at three o'clock in the. afternoon. 

For the Sunday night meeting, the following, 
was our plan, I was to preach, and if I felt like it, 
call for mourners. If not, Brother Oliver was to 
exhort, and if he felt like it, he was to call for 



RECOLLECTIONS. 97 

mourners. If not, my brother Norris was to exhort, 
and if he felt like it, he was to call for mourners. 
If not, Bro. Bond was to exhort and he was to call 
for mourners, whether he felt like it or not. Take 
notice — we were four boy preachers. 

At the appointed hour I preached, and then 
gave way to Bro. Oliver. He exhorted and then 
gave place to Norris. He exhorted and then ven- 
tured to call. By that time Bro. Bond could stand 
it no longer, and he began to exhort in another 
corner of the room. At the same moment I too, 
without previous purpose, began also to exhort in 
another part of the room. 

The holy fire began to burn wonderfully. Seek- 
ers rushed forward to where each of us stood and 
knelt down at our feet, — sixteen seeking souls 
pleading with God. We then all knelt and prayed. 
There were not less than forty, supplicating, weep- 
ing, earnestly entreating, all at once, and yet there 
was not the slightest approach to disorder. In a 
short time one was converted and began to shout. 
Then another to praise God, and shout, "glory! 
glory!" until little else could be heard, but shouts 
and praise. 

Looking up I saw uncle Azel Dorsey, who had 
been unable to walk without a cane for years, rush- 
ing through the house and over the benches shout- 
ing and praising at the top of his voice, without a 
cane or other support. While Aunt Nellie his 
wife, a very quiet Christian lady, was clapping her 
hands and praising God aloud, something she had 
never done before. 



98 KECOLLECTIONS. 

And well they might rejoice, two of their sons 
had just been joyfully converted. Before the close 
of that meeting thirteen united with the church. 
This greatly encouraged us and removed many 
doubts as to the life work which was opening be- 
fore us. 

My work as a local preacher was now fairly in- 
augurated. The circuit preachers this year were 
Wilson Pitner and W. T. Williams. There were 
twenty-eight appointments and about six hundred 
members, with ten or twelve local preachers and 
exhorters. My regular appointments were as in 
the three months previous, every fourth Sunday at 
Sugar creek, at Lamasters and at Astoria. 

These were only interrupted by the circuit 
preaching, quarterly camp-meetings, and two days' 
meetings. The last we managed to hold about 
every four weeks, and with our host of warm heart- 
ed loving members, local preachers and exhorters, 
in attendance, they were often seasons of very 
great power, at which many were converted; clear- 
ly and satisfactorily saved. 

Late in the fall I appointed a two days' meeting, 
at Sugar creek, at which point I had been exhort- 
ing and preaching for over a year. This place 
which had been among the most lawless, had been 
much benefited by the year's work and by the 
meeting at this time, at which my brother and 
Isaac Linder, an exhorter, assisted me. 

This meeting was one of great power. It began 
with considerable interest, which grew more and 
more intense until sixteen were converted or re- 



BECOLLECTIONS. 99 

claimed. As the result of this meeting a class of 
about twenty was formed, and the place became 
from that time one of the regular points for circuit 
preaching. 

Sometime in the latter part of May, our band of 
"local itinerants" had planned to hold a two days, 
meeting at old Bro. P — s, twenty miles south of me. 
I could not get away from my corn plowing so as to 
get there until late Saturday evening. When I 
arrived the brethern informed me that I was to 
preach on Sunday, at three o'clock P. M. 

I decided to speak from Ezekiel XXXIII., 11, 
on which Scripture I had been bestowing consider- 
able thought and study. I felt some confidence 
that in consequence of this, my sermon would be 
an improvement on my former efforts. The time 
came. The afternoon was sultry and hot. The 
house a log cabin twenty-four feet square, from 
which beds and furniture had been removed. 
There was also a wide porch on each side. Every 
spot was crowded full, and it was close and op- 
pressive. After the opening exercises I took my 
text, "As I live, saith the Lord I have no pleasure 
in the death of the wicked turn ye, turn ye from 
your evil ways; for why will ye die, Oh house of 
Israel?" My intention had been to speak princi- 
pally from the clause, "Why will ye die?" 

For about two minutes I said what I had planned 
to speak of as an introduction. Then all at once 
my plan, sketch and previously arranged thoughts, 
utterly vanished. Not a shred, or clew, or thought 
of them remained; and catch them I could not. 



t ofC 



100 BECOLLECTIONS. 

"A horror as of great darkness," came over me. 
I could scarcely see across the house. The room 
became dark. Yet there was nothing to 

do but to keep on talking. This I did for 
about fifteen minutes and then sat down, desir- 
ing nothing so much as to get out of sight of every 
one as fast as possible, and get into a hole some- 
where. My confusion and mortification were 
great. I felt as if I never could try to preach 
again. Even now I shudder to think of the desolate- 
ness of that hour; and had it not been that an ap- 
pointment for the next Sabbath was out, and there 
was no one else to fill it, I think it doubtful if I 
should ever have attempted to preach again. 

This experience, painful as it was at the time, 
proved of lasting benefit. I learned from ft, that 
however much the study, or thought, or human 
effort may be to expound God's Word, all is vain 
without the presence and help of the Holy Spirit 
in the heart. And that to reach other hearts the 
power must be of God. 

It was with much trembling that I went to my 
next appointment the following Sabbath. But 
the Lord was with me ; I climbed to the mountain 
top and had, by far, the best time in preaching 
that, up to that date I had enjoyed. This encour- 
aged me greatly, and in humble dependence on 
divine power I studied and worked and kept up 
my appointments through the year. These ex- 
periences led me to ask in great solicitude and 
with deep seriousness — the absorbing, and to me 



RECOLLECTIONS. 101 

awful question, "Am I called of God to preach the 
Gospel?" 

There was such a shrinking back from the re- 
sponsibilities, which were involved in an affirma- 
tive reply, that at times the thought nearly over- 
whelmed me. 

My own unworthiness for the sacred calling; 
my lack of school culture, and thorough theologi- 
cal training, would confront themselves in my 
mind with the impression from childhood that 
sometime, God would call me to preach; and with the 
remembrance of the many exhortations which as a 
boy I had given to sinners to come and seek the 
Lord, and which filled me with gladness, when 
only the birds and the trees were my audience. 

The memory too, that I had been dedicated as a 
Methodist preacher, to God, from my birth, by my 
sainted father; my own joy in the work, and most 
assuring of all, the seal of His approval, which had 
attended my humble efforts as an exhorter and 
local preacher, in the conversion of many souls; 
all led me to ponder, again and again, the great 
question of my life work. 

Towards the close of the year, I found my con- 
viction of the duty of devoting myself to the 
preaching of the Gospel growing in strength. 

In September (this was in 1836) my poor rebel- 
lious heart was led still more to yield obedience to 
the voice of God within me, by the death of our 
first born, Sarah Emiline, a lovely babe, given to 
us in April and left with us but four months; 
then she was borne to the "upper fold." The 



102 RECOLLECTIONS. 

little tabernacle, which she occupied so short a 
time, sleeps in the Kushville cemetery, with a 
little brother and sister, who also died in infancy. 

All these doubts and fears and hopes as well, 
were finally settled by me in this way: I solemnly 
covenanted with the Lord, that if it was His will, 
made evident by the wish of the church, I would 
give up all opposition, and devote my life to the 
work of the ministry, and do, with His help, the 
best I could. And if, after an honest effort thus 
to do his will, I found that I could not succeed as 
a preacher, then I would return to my farm work 
and a Christian life of usefulness; but I was to be 
forever after free from the burden of a call to 
preach. 

The mental and great bodily labor which I had 
undergone that summer reduced my strength and 
health, so that at the fourth quarterly meeting for 
the year, which, as usual, was held in connection 
with the camp-meeting, I was too feeble to be of 
any assistance, though I enjoyed the camp-meet- 
ing, which was an excellent one, very much; and I 
found myself greatly benefited by the few days 
rest, and the freedom from care and anxiety. At 
this camp and quarterly meeting, Peter Cartwright 
being presiding elder, I was recommended for re- 
ception on trial in the Illinois conference, together 
with my brother Norris, C. J. Houts and Warner 
Oliver. 



RECOLLECTIONS. 103 



CHAPTEK XII. 

n"7HE conference this year, 1836, met at Rush- 
ville, and was held in connection with the 
camp-meeting for that station. 

The preachers came from Green Bay, Lake Su- 
perior, St. Peter, (Minnesota) Prairie dn Chien, 
Cairo and Shawneetown, a glorious band of heroic 
men. 

John Clarke, Salmon Stebbins and Alfred 
Brunson, were leading the battle along the north- 
ern frontier. Bartholomew Weed and Henry 
Summers took all of Iowa, and a good share of 
northwest Illinois, and southwest Wisconsin in 
their districts. While Charles Holliday, S. H. 
Thompson, John Dew, John YanCleve, Asahel E. 
Phelps and Peter Cartwright were marshalling 
grandly the hosts of the Lord in their great fields. 

The business sessions of the conference were 
held in the church in Rushville; while the 
public religious services and preaching were con- 
ducted at the camp-ground, a mile away. 

As we had a large tent on the camp-ground and 
old friends by the hundreds to care for, I could 
see but little of the conference; save what was to be 
seen and enjoyed and heard, on the ground. 



104 EECOLLECTIONS. 

On Sabbath, Bishop Morris preached, and or- 
dained the deacons at eleven o'clock a. m. ; and A. 
Branson gave us a rousing missionary sermon in 
the afternoon ; after which the elders were ordained. 

I learned during the Sabbath, that on the Satur- 
day before, when the "first question" had been 
taken up in conference, that in answer to the in- 
quiry, "who have been received on trial?" the 
record read: "Warner Oliver, John P. Bichmond, 
Chauncey Hobart, Norris Hobart, C. J. JHouts, 
Ahira G. Meacham, William H. Taylor, William 
Haney, John Jordan, David King, David Hotch- 
kiss, John Crammer, T. W. Pope, Elijah Cor- 
rington, John C. Hamilton, Stephen Arnold, 
Daniel G. Cartwright, Asbury Chenowith, B. W. 
Clarke, John Shepard, Amos Wiley, Annis Mer- 
( rill, Isaac Poole, James B. Woollard, Joshua 
Barnes, Arthur Bradshaw, Samuel Pillsbury, 
George Smith, Isaac I. Stewart and John De- 
morest." 

The camp-meeting closed on Monday noon, and 
on Monday evening, Peter B. Borein, at the church, 
gave the missionary address on the occasion of the 
missionary anniversary. What John Summerfield 
was in the east, flaming with eloquence and holy 
zeal, was Peter B, Borein in the west, during the 
five years preceding his death. On this occasion, 
he began with a description of the missionary 
spirit, as seen in the Evangelical churches, and 
especially in our own church; traced this wonder- 
ful influence back to McKendree, Abbott, Asbury, 
Wesley, Fletcher, Whitefield, Knox, Latimer, 



EECOLLECTIONS. 105 

Ridley, Cranmer, Luther, Zwingli, Melanchthon, 
Wyckliffe, Huss and Savonarola; found it work- 
ing mightily in the hearts of Augustine, Hilary, 
Ambrose, Chrysostom, Irenseus and Polycarp; 
burning in Paul and Silas, in Peter, Stephen and 
John; seen in matchless power in the Pentecost, 
and in the loving life and glorious death of the 
world's Redeemer. Back of this, climbing the 
heavens and scanning the Infinite, he found it 
flowing in ocean fullness, from the very heart of 
God. His peroration was an eloquent portrayal of 
its final and glorious triumph; in its grand and 
universal consummation, amid the apocalyptic 
glories of eternity. 

The effect was simply overwhelming; we de- 
scended to the contemplation of earthly things 
again just a little, when, after singing the mis- 
sionary hymn, John Clarke, missionary from Lake 
Superior, stated, that he had three Indian boys — 
George Copway, John Johnson and Peter Marks- 
man — who had been soundly converted and who 
wished to spend a couple of years in school; that 
they could be accommodated at Ebenezer Institute, 
near Jacksonville, then under the supervision of 
Dr. Peter Akers, and all that was needed was the 
money to pay expenses. In response to this ap- 
peal, three thousand dollars were raised imme- 
diately. 

On the next day, the appointments were read, 
and I found that I was set down for Rockingham 
circuit; Henry Summers, presiding elder. My 

8 



106 RECOLLECTIONS. 

brother, Norris, was sent to Burlington circuit. 
Both appointments were in Iowa. 

Rockingham was a speculators' town, long since 
abandoned; located on the west side of the Missis- 
sippi, opposite the mouth of Bock river. A class 
of sixteen had been organized at this place, by 
Rev. C. D. James, the previous summer. Excepting 
this, there was no other organization, class or ap- 
pointment, on what was intended to be Rocking- 
ham circuit, and which was to include all the set- 
tlements west of the Mississippi and above the 
lower Iowa river; a stretch of one hundred miles 
on the river and as far back as the settlements 
extended. Xo church, no parsonage, no steward; 
not an official member, save one class-leader, and 
his name I did not know. To take my wife to this 
work was impossible; and so it was arranged that 
she and her sister (my brother's wife), should live 
together at my house, during the winter, at least, 
while we went to our* circuits. 

Our preparations were made as rapidly as pos- 
sible. Outfit and saddle-bags procured, on the 
third of November, 1836, my brother and I, 
leaving pur wives in tears, started for our circuits 
in the Black Hawk jmrehase, since known as the 
grand State of Iowa. We traveled together as 
far as Burlington, having spent the Sabbath at 
Augusta, on Skunk river, where I had })reached at 
ten o'clock. Aiter that we rode on to Burlington, 
intending to hold meeting there that evening, but 
we found a Bro. Shelton, an exhorter, who was 
filling an appointment of his own. This was the 



RECOLLECTIONS. 107 

principal point on my brother's work. The next 
morning we parted, he starting westward, and I 
north, in company with Bro. Shelton, for Rock- 
ingham. Our route lay along the Mississippi; we 
followed the trail under the bluff, where, in some 
places, it was made passable for wagons and in 
others difficult even for horsemen. I spent the 
first night with Bro. Swank. The next day I rode 
on and in two and a half days reached Rocking- 
ham, in a drenching rain, and was kindly received 
by Bro. Davenport, the class-leader. 

Once on the ground, the next thing to do was 
to learn the extent and population of my field of 
labor. Leaving an appointment here, for the next 
Sabbath, I proceeded to the town of Davenport, 
five miles above. There I gave out another ap- 
pointment for Sabbath, at three o'clock p. m., and 
rode up the river and stopped with a good Bro. 
Herald. The next day I rode eight miles further 
on and left an appointment at Father Spencer's 
for two o'clock p. M., Tuesday, and rode back to 
Father Davenport's. Here I found Rev. Daniel G. 
Cartwright, who had been appointed to the Iowa 
mission. This would bring Bro. Cartwright and 
myself to occupy, in part, the same ground. This 
mistake had arisen from the fact that Rev. Peter 
Cartwright, when at Burlington, having learned 
that there was unoccupied ground above Burling- 
ton circuit, had organized for this, the Iowa mis- 
sion; while Rev. A. Brunson, having learned, when 
at Rock Island, the same facts, had organized the 
Rockingham circuit, and preachers had been sent 



108 RECOLLECTIONS. 

to each. Bro. Cartwright preached for me at 
Rockingham, and then went with me up to Daven- 
port, where I preached. In the evening, Bro. 
Shelton held forth at Rockingham, and I left an 
appointment there to be filled in two weeks. 

It was arranged, in view of the mistake which 
had been made by the elders, that Bro. Cartwright 
should take the country south of Pine river for his 
circuit and I all north of it for mine. This divi- 
sion was continued until spring, when all north of 
the Iowa river was given to me. The week was 
occupied in hunting up members and professors, 
and in filling the appointment at Father Spencer's, 
who, by the way, was a brother of my father's old 
friend of that name, from Yermont. 

On one of these rides, in going along an Indian 
trail, I met a man hunting his horses, who, when 
questioned about preaching places and religious 
people, excitedly replied, that he did his own 
preaching. When asked if his neighbors did the 
same, he gruffly made answer: "They do." I soon 
learned that he was one of those wicked, swearing, 
reckless men, who, without any pretense, even, to 
that claim, like to call themselves Universaliste; 
one of the kind that always gets mad at the sight 
or thought of anything looking to a religious effort. 
Biding on I dined with a young man of the name 
of Hubbard and left with him an appointment for 
preaching in two weeks, Wednesday, at eleven 
A. m. Three miles on, I left another appointment, 
at the house of the father of young Mr. Hubbard, 
for the same Wednesday at candle lighting. These 



EECOLLECTIONS. 109 

two points were a few miles above the present city 
of Le Claire. I then rode five miles further 
and spent the night with a Mr. Pineo, who, I de- 
sire to say, would accept nothing in the morning 
as compensation for my entertainment, which in 
those days and in that country, was something 
rather unusual. 

The next morning a ten mile ride brought me 
to Brophy's Ferry, on the Wapisipinecan. Here 
I learned that there were but three houses above 
this point for the next twenty miles, and only one 
of these occupied by a married man. As Brophy, 
the ferryman, was a bachelor, there were four 
houses, containing four men and one woman, in a 
stretch of thirty miles. This information ended 
my search for preaching places in that direction. 

I then took an Indian trail for Bock Island, and 
reached Davenport, after a hard ride, crossing 
many bogs, creeks, sloughs and marshes of a dole- 
ful character, and spent that night with Bro. Cook, 
below Davenport. This excellent brother, now 
Judge Cook, is still living at the same place, a 
good man and true. 

Thursday, I went down the Mississippi to learn 
how frequently, and where, I could preach in that 
direction. I had heard of an old Bro. Camp- 
bell, who lived three miles below Clarke's ferry, 
and I thought to stay that night with him. Ac- 
cordingly I rode up to his cabin door a little before 
sundown. Being somewhat bashful, about an- 
nouncing myself a Methodist preacher, I simply 
inquired for entertainment. The old gentleman 



110 RECOLLECTIONS. 

replied in a hesitating way that he did not make a 
business of entertaining travelers; adding that at 
a house a mile back. I could probably be accomo- 
dated. Lingering a moment, after this reply, and 
seeing that he had evidently made up his mind in 
the matter. I rode back. Iffy mistake here was, in 
not introducing myself at once as a Methodist 
preacher. This would have secured me a welcome 
as I learned afterwards. TThen I reached the 
house, a mile back, I was again refused, and di- 
rected to the next house above; thus retracing the 
road I had traveled. I rode on for the ''house 
above/' and was again refused, and sent to the 
next house, that of Mr. Eobinson, a Presbyterian, 
and of whom later I learned to think very highly. 

Mr. Eobinson assured me civilly, that they were 
full: two families being already in one log cabin. 
The next trial was to be made at the tavern at 
Clarke's ferry, Xew Buffalo. Eiding back. I reached 
the ferry house about dark. I had observed when 
riding past this place on going down to Mr. Camp- 
bell's, that the whiskey shanty adjoining the house 
was the scene of a drunken row. judging by the 
sound of blows, blaspheming, and brutal yelling. 
When I came back to it. fi*om my last halt, they 
were still at it, making the night hideous with 
their cursing and howling. 

I asked the landlord, if 1 could be accommo- 
dated there for the night, and the reply was, only 
with great inconvenience to myself and my horse, 
as he was full, with a lot of rivermen. 

I inquired if the men in the shanty were to stay 



KECOLLECTIOXS. Ill 

all night, and on being informed, that they were, I 
turned away, mentally declaring that I would not 
stop in sneh a pandemonium as that. Again rid- 
ing back to Mr. Robinson's I informed him of the 
situation of things at the ferry, and that I could 
not stop there, I then said: "You have hay and 
corn for my horse, and I have money to pay you 
for them. If you will feed my horse and permit 
me to sleep by your haystack I will be greatly 
obliged." To this he did not answer, but followed 
me as I started towards the stable. After I had 
pulled off the saddle, he took my horse and fed 
her, and I, taking saddle and saddle-bags and 
blanket, went round to the south side of the hay- 
stack and commenced preparing a place in which 
to sleep. It was a dark night, the wind being 
from the northeast, and a cold November mist 
falling. He stood for a while watching me, and 
then said very slowly, "I reckon you had better 
come into the house." I replied, "I can sleep here, 
but I would much rather sleep on your floor if you 
will permit me." "Come in," was his answer, 
"we will do the best we can." Gladly accepting 
the tardy invitation, I went in and was made quite 
comfortable. 

The next morning, I rode down again to Bro. 
Campbell's, and this time, told him who I was, 
when he admonished me, in a fatherly sort of way, 
for not telling him that I was the preacher, the 
night before. Leaving an appointment with him 
for two weeks from that day (Friday ) I pursued 
my explorations down to Pine river. 



112 RECOLLECTIONS. 

Having the next Sunday unoccupied, and being 
fearfully lonely and homesick, I crossed the Mis- 
sissippi and rode down to Monmouth, to spend the 
Sabbath with Father McNeil, Bro. West and other 
old friends of my father, and of my youth. I 
preached at Monmouth early on Sabbath morning 
and again at eleven o'clock a. m. Staid there 
three days and returned to Eock Island, where I 
found Bro. John Spencer, son of my father's old 
friend from Vergennes. This gentleman, a grand, 
good man, has since been honored as Judge Spen- 
cer, of Rock Island. I also take pleasure in here 
recording my remembrance of the Christian kind- 
ness, and hospitalities received not only from 
Judge Spencer, but also from his wife, a lady every 
way worthy of him. I also gratefully remember 
the courtesy and thoughtful care of Bro. Wells 
and family, and of Messrs. Hartzell, father, grand- 
father and uncles of Dr. Hartzell now secretary of 
the Freednien's Aid society. 

Leaving my horse at Bro. Spencer's I crossed 
the river in a skiff, this the thickly floating masses 
of ice made very perilous at that time. Then bor- 
rowing a horse, filled my appointments and ar- 
ranged a two weeks, circuit of seven preaching 
places, extending fifty miles along the Mississippi. 

At the end of the first quarter I returned home, 
and during my stay of ten days there, held a two 
days' meeting which resulted in ten conversions. 

At Hickory Grove which was an additional ap- 
pointment made during the second quarter, I met 
a Mr. Keys with whom I had quite an interesting 



KECOLLECTIONS. 113 

talk on the subject of Universalism, and I especi- 
ally remember this as being the first one I had 
had, on a subject which has since engaged my 
best thought, and which I have discussed hun- 
dreds of times. It occurred on this wise, we were 
at the house of Bro. Carter, who purposely urged 
Mr. Keys to remain all night in order that he 
might engage us in a religious controversy. Soon 
after tea, Bro. Carter quite adroitly managed to 
draw out Mr. Key's views on the subject of a 
Christian life, and future punishment; when, as 
was to be expected, Keys bitterly denounced or- 
thodoxy in general and Methodism in particular. 
Bro. Carter, at once, turned to me with the in- 
quiry, "What do you think of that?" "What are 
your views?" Shrinking from involving myself 
in a controversy, I calmly replied; "I do not look 
at the matter that way, I regard religion as bene- 
ficial here, and necessary for our well-being here- 
after." The arousement of Mr. Keys was imme- 
diate. He went on vindictively to assert, that it 
was slandering the Almighty to suppose that He, 
whose nature was love, and whose wisdom, power 
and goodness were infinite, would permit one of 
His creatures to be miserable eternally. To this I 
answered "that if God's infinite wisdom, love and 
power, were certain to save all men finally from 
sin and sorrow, I could not see why these perfec- 
tions did not prevent sin, sorrow and suffering 
here in the first place ; that God was now, no better, 
or wiser, no more loving nor powerful than He was 
when man had sinned; that if men could sin and 



114 RECOLLECTIONS. 

suffer a day or an hour, and the Almighty continue 
as wise, good, powerful and loving as He had ev er 
been or ever would be, then there was nothing in 
the divine perfections, to keep men from sinning 
and suffering eternally." 

To this he angrily responded: "Everybody knows 
that the Bible says, that as all men had borne the 
image of the earthy; so all were to bear the image 
of the heavenly; that all were to be changed, in a 
moment, in the twinkling of an eye, and be 
caught up and be forever with the Lord." 

I replied, that in I. Cor. Chap. XV., from 
which he quoted; "the change, spoken of, was 
the resurrection of the body, and the changing 
of the then living, from a state of mortality to im- 
mortality, and not a moral change; that when 
Adam sinned, his soul lost its spiritual life, and 
became dead in sin, and his body lost its means of 
perpetuating its natural life, and must die; that 
Christ had secured the resurection of all men from 
the dead, and had brought all within the reach of 
eternal life, but that the final salvation of adults, 
depended on the choice they made and the life 
they lived, and, that was proved by the words of 
Christ Himself; John V., 28-29, when He said, 'the 
hour cometh, when all that are in the graves shall 
hear His voice and shall come forth, they that 
have done good to the resurrection of life, and 
they that have done evil to the resurrection of 
damnation. "Here" said I, "Is damnation after 
the resurrection.' " 



RECOLLECTIONS. 115 

In a torrent of excitement he exclaimed, "It 
don't say so! It is not so!!" 

"It certainly does," I replied, "it is written just 
so!" 

"It don't!" he cried, "I will give you my 
horse, if it does!" 

"I don't want your horse," I said, "neither do I 
want to dispute with you, so we will get the Bible 
and see." 

A Bible was brought, Bro. Carter handing it to 
me, I turned to the passage, and read, as quoted. 

"You don't read it right!!" he thundered. "You 
are just making it up, it ain't there!" 

"Well" said I, "there it is," handing him the 
book, "read it for yourself!" 

He took the book and read, or pretended to 
read, and then slamming the Bible together ex- 
claimed, "It ain't so! The Savior never said it!*' 

At this, Bro. Carter began to laugh, and said, he 
hoped Mr. Keys would hand over the horse, as 
Bro. Hobart had rode his, pretty well down and 
needed a fresh one. 

To which, he replied, "I'm sorry I stayed here, 
I've a mind to go home!" 

We had family prayer soon after and parted 
for the night, he leaving next morning early. 

During the winter, Bishop Chase of the Protestant 
Episcopal church visited Kock Island, and was in- 
vited to preach in Davenport. In the course of 
his sermon, which was only moderate in quality, 
he took occasion to specially warn the people not 
to give any countenance to those persons, who 



116 RECOLLECTIONS. 

were riding up and down through country, the 
calling themselves preachers; as they were, most 
of them, speculators and horse-jockeys, and none 
of them worthy of the least attention as ministers 
of the Gospel. I should have been generous 
enough to have shared this morsel of superannu- 
ated spleen, had there been any one with whom to 
divide it; but as I was the only one on that side of 
the river, to whom it could possibly apply, of ne- 
cessity I appropriated it all, thinking, at the same 
time that, since I was doing a work, which neither 
he nor his subordinates could do, he might have 
been manly enough to let me alone, rather than 
attempt to hedge up my way. 

Among the many friends, made that year and 
whom I remember with much pleasure, were Rev. 
Elnathan C. Gavit and his royal hearted and most 
excellent wife. 

A watchnight meeting was held at Rock Island 
on New Year's Eve by Bros. Gavit, West and my- 
self. This was a precious time of power, the good 
results of which were enduring. 

In the spring immigrants came by hundreds, to 
settle in this part of the country, and as soon as 
the grass was sufficiently grown to keep our horses, 
Bro. D. G. Cartwright and I arranged to take a 
trip into the interior, to get acquainted with these 
new settlers and, if possible, to supply them with 
preaching. For this purpose, we met at Bloom- 
ington, now Muscatine, and rode to a place, then 
called Moscow, on the Cedar river. From thence 
we pushed on, ten miles, to Colonel Hardman's. 



RECOLLECTIONS. 117 

We found the colonel to be a member of our church 
and received a warm welcome from him. The 
news of our arrival soon spread and quite a con- 
gregation gathered that night, to whom Bro. Cart- 
right preached. His, was the first sermon ever 
preached in the Cedar river country. 

We rode through the Sugar Creek and Rock 
Creek settlements, the next day, and found six or 
eight families, in thirty miles travel and stayed at 
night at the head of Red Oak Grove, near where 
Tipton now stands. 

Next day we started in a northeast direction, in- 
tending to reach Bro. Carter's at Hickory Grove, 
supposing it to be distant about thirty miles. 
There was neither road, trail, stake, nor anything 
else to direct us on that great prairie; nor had any 
one ever been through the route we were then 
taking; but we knew the direction we wanted to go 
and struck out. About eight o'clock in the morn- 
ing, we reached the top of a high swell or hill on 
the prairie, and could see, in the far off distance, 
in our course, a grove of timber, which we hoped 
was our point of destination. About one o'clock, 
we came to a deep, muddy creek, twenty-five feet 
wide; no ford and the banks very high. This we 
must cross. Riding along up stream, we found a 
place where we could get our horses in, and about 
a quarter of a mile above, we discovered, on the 
opposite bank, another break, where we thought 
we could get them out. We then pulled off our 
boots, stuffed our stockings inside, and threw them 
across; pushed our horses in, mounted, rode up to 



118 KECOLLECTIONS. 

the break on the opposite side, and with great effort, 
got our horses up, found our boots and rode on. 
About five o'clock p. m., we reached the grove 
which Ave had seen in the morning, and there, 
from an elevation, could see, fully twenty miles 
ahead, Hickory Grove, for which we had started. 
To reach there that night was impossible, as it 
was getting dark and we could not keep our 
course, so we turned to the southeasterly side of 
the grove, to find a sheltered spot for ourselves, 
and grass for our horses. Just as we reached the 
lower extremity of the grove, we discovered a 
wagon track, one day old, which we. followed and 
soon found a settler. He proved to be a new 
comer of one day, with a wife and three children; 
his log cabin was half completed. Here were, 
kindly kept, and, the next day at noon, reached 
Bro. Carter's. 

Bro. Cartwright lived in the bounds of my 
brother's circuit and, as this circuit was twice as 
populous as both of our's and included about 
twenty-eight appointments, we decided, on this 
trip, with my brother's consent and that of the 
presiding elder, to arrange the work, for the rest 
of the conference year, as follows : 

My circuit was to include all the country from 
the Wapsipinecan to the lower Iowa; Bro. Cart- 
wright, to take all from the lower Iowa to Flint 
river, and Norris, from Flint river to the Missouri 
state line; each going west as far as the settle- 
ments extended. 

As soon as possible I arranged my work into a 



KECOLLECTIONS. 119 

three weeks' circuit, with fifteen appointments, to 
which I shortly added another, and on this wise: 
When at Moscow, I heard that a settlement was 
forming on the Wap-si-no-o-nock, a tributary of 
the Cedar, on the west side, and ten miles south- 
west of Moscow. I then planned, so as to have a 
spare day, to visit this place on my next round. 
After preaching, at Bro. Hardman's, one Sabbath 
about the last of May, I rode down the next morn- 
ing to Moscow, expecting to cross the Cedar on a 
ferry boat, but found when I reached the village, 
that the ferry-man was off locating a claim and 
would not be back until night. "However," said 
my informant, a sensible looking middle aged man, 
"you can ford the river if you wish to go over." 
Thanking him I asked for directions so as to find 
the ford. "Well," said he pompously, "If I under- 
take to direct a man I want to direct him right!" 
"If you please, sir," said I, "for I have no desire to 
swim your river this morning." Walking to the 
top of the bank which was some sixty feet high, he 
said: "Now, you ride down this angling footpath, 
till you come to the water ; then ride in, quartering 
down toward that black snag, you see down the 
bend, yonder. Then, when you get two thirds over, 
turn square across the river and you will come 
out all right." With thanks, I rode on as indi- 
cated. When I went into the water I discovered 
that I was on a sand-bar, which caused me to hesi- 
tate, but as the water was only up to the girth I 
rode on. When about half way across, I per- 
ceived that I was just riding off the lower end of a 



120 RECOLLECTIONS. 

steep sandbar, and, I had barely time to snatch 
my saddle bags from under me and throw them 
over my shoulder, when, in we plunged, all under 
water excepting the horse's head, and the upper 
part of my body. My horse proved a good swim- 
mer, and I concluded, that when we were in, we 
might as well swim over as to swim back. Giving 
the horse the rein and guiding him with my hand, 
we were soon on terra fir ma, safe and sound. 
Riding up to a log I dismounted, pulled of my 
boots, wrung out my stockings, dried my clothes a 
little by pressing the water out, and in a few mo- 
ments was on my way. I had proceeded about 
ten rods, when I heard the whiz of a rattlesnake 
near my horse's feet. My rule, since a boy, had 
been never to let a poisonous snake go, without 
killing him, so I dismounted, killed the reptile 
and rode on. In a few minutes I heard the rattle 
of another snake, dispatched him — and went on, 
thinking, if I accomplished nothing else, on this 
ride, I might be a sort of "St. Patrick" in freeing, 
the country from snakes. A ride of about ten 
miles brought me to the settlement. Calling at 
the first cabin, I found it occupied by a Mr. Foote 
and family, when the following colloquy occurred: 

Preacher, — "Good morning, sir!" 

Mr. Foote, — "How do you do, sir!" 

Preacher, — "You have a fine country here. 
About the best I have seen in the territory!" 

Mr. Foote, — "Yes! I think it very good indeed!" 

Preacher, — "Have you many settlers here?" 

Mr. Foote,— "Only six families." 



RECOLLECTIONS. 121 

Preacher, — "Any school?" 

Mr. Foote, — "No! we have only been here about 
four weeks." 

Preacher, — "Any preaching, or religious meet- 
mgs ( 

Mr. Foote, — "No! but an old gentleman, a Bap- 
tist, I believe, was here and left an appointment to 
preach next Sunday." 

Preacher, — "Have you any religious people in 
your community?" 

Mr. Foote, — "Why yes! I'm trying to be religious 
myself! Won't you come in, and stay all night 
with us?" 

I then informed him that I was a Methodist 
preacher, and had come to get acquainted with the 
people, and gladly accepted his invitation. 

I found that Mrs. Foote was the daughter of Mr. 
Proctor of Lewiston, 111., an old friend of my 
father's and that she was also a very intelligent 
lady. 

Mi\ Foote was a Connecticut Yankee, whom his 
father had intended for the ministry of the Con- 
gregational church; but his health having failed 
before completing his college course, he had taken 
the advice of Horace Greely and, came west 

We were soon engaged in discussing the doc- 
trinal differences between the Congregational and 
Methodist churches. Mr. Foote had himself in- 
troduced this subject, as I felt somewhat reluctant 
to enter into a discussion of this character, with 
an ex- theological student; and just then, also being 



122 RECOLLECTIONS. 

his guest. He soon, however, put me quite at ease 
by saying: 

"It is not for the sake of controversy that I 
desire to talk on this subject; I am seeking 
light. My brother went down to Tennessee four 
years ago. There he married a Methodist wife 
and joined that church. Some months since he 
wrote to me asking my reasons for continuing a 
Calvinist, and wishing me to give them to him. I 
had, of course, thought them very numerous, and 
in order to collect and support them with scriptu- 
ral authority, I took my Xew Testament and read 
it carefully through. To my astonishment, I did 
not find a single passage in the four Gospels, 
which necessarily taught the peculiarities (elec- 
tion, reprobation, etc.) of Calvinism; and but one 
or two, in the other parts of the New Testament, 
that I could not satisfactorily explain in a way, 
which did not favor that doctrine. So you see, I 
am seeking light." 

I gave him the Methodist view of Romans YIII- 
IX., and Ephesians I, which seemed in his estima- 
tion, to be the most difficult to harmonize with Ar- 
menian views; telling him, at the same time, frank- 
ly, that I was young in theology, and was only just 
reading up my ministerial course, but would on my 
next round, bring him a book, which would give our 
views on these, and many other, disputed texts and 
doctrines. During that conversation, Mr. Foote 
stated, in a rather perplexed way, that he had been 
in the west six years; had lived in seven dif- 
ferent localities on the frontier, in Illinois, Wis- 



RECOLLECTIONS. 123 

consin, and Iowa, and that he had never been 
called on by a Presbyterian or Congregational 
minister; "While," said he, "it is a little remarkable, 
that I have not been in any of these localities four 
weeks, without being visited, at my own house, by 
a Methodist minister!" 

Leaving an appointment with this pleasant 
family, I started on for my next preaching place, 
which was at the mouth of Pine river, expecting 
to cross the Cedar at "Powsheek's" village, six 
miles below Moscow. After quite a hard day's 
travel, I came, about 5 o'clock p. M., to a log cabin 
and inquired as to my whereabouts, and learned 
that I was ten miles from Pine river, but that if I 
would stop, I could feed my horse and get a bite 
to eat. Here I met an elderly lady, who inquired, 
if I was not a Methodist preacher. She informed 
me that she was the widow of a local preacher of 
New York, had lived along the frontier in Indiana 
for the last ten years, and that she had not heard 
a sermon in eight years. According to invariable 
custom, after supper I read a Scripture lesson, 
prayed and sang. The old lady seemed very much 
comforted, expressed great thankfulness to God 
for having permitted me to call, and renewed her 
covenant to serve Him faithfully; saying as I left, 
"I believe I shall get to Heaven yet." I never 
saw her afterwards. 

The next week, in company with my brother I 
spent at my home, and then went back to my work. 

This summer was fully occupied in filling my 
appointments, visiting new settlements, and or- 



121 RECOLLECTIONS. 

ganizing work. There were few roads and no 
bridges, and, in many instances, I visited places 
from directions where none had traveled before 
rne. I therefore claim to have the honor, not only 
of preaching the first sermon in many localities, 
but also of laying out more new roads than any 
other man in that country, before or since. 

On my next round, I brought Bro. Foote "Wat- 
son's Theological Institutes"* to his great satisfac- 
tion. I also filled my appointment here, preaching 
the first Methodist sermon ever preached west of 
Cedar river. 

In view of the growing settlements, it was ar- 
ranged that our next quarterly meeting should be 
held at Bro. Hardman's, where I had organized a 
class of twenty-five members, the extremes of 
which were thirty-five miles apart, so far as the 
localities in which they lived were concerned. 
This meeting was held about the last of August, 
1837, my brother Xorris, D. G. Cartwright, and 
Henry Summers, our presiding elder, being pres- 
ent. The weather was fine, the attendance large, 
probably about three hundred; so that we were 
obliged to hold the services during the day time, 
in the grove. 

Saturday the preaching at 11 o'clock A. M., was 
by the elder; 2 o'clock p. m., by Bro. Cartwright, 
and "at candle lighting," by my brother. Just be- 
fore love-feast, on Sunday morning, we were all 
delighted by the arrival of Bro. Foote, who had 
come more than twenty miles, starting a little 
after midnight. That was a glorious love-feast; 



RECOLLECTIONS. 125 

many were "shouting happy." Bro. Foote said it 
was the first meeting of the kind he had ever at- 
tended, and the happiest day of his life. Before 
he went home, he joined the Methodist church, 
bought Watson's Institutes and Wesley's sermons 
and returned, rejoicing in the Lord. He was 
subsequently licensed to preach; lived an active, 
useful, Christian life, and died, some years since, 
triumphing in Christ. 

In the evening, after my brother had preached, 
there was a great move in the congregation. 
Several came forward for prayer, and, of these, 
almost all were converted. At about ten o'clock at 
night, we opened the doors of the church and a 
number joined; but as there were several others 
who were deeply convicted, and especially a neigh- 
bor of Bro. Hardman — whose wife had been re- 
claimed and had that evening joined — I continued 
the exhortations, sang another hymn and extended 
the invitation. Two others joined, but my man 
still held back, crushed with conviction and weep- 
ing profusely. I felt that I could not leave him so, 
and knowing the difficulty in his case, was a bet on a 
horse-race which was to come off the next week, I 
determined to make my appeal as pointed as pos- 
sible. Saying, among other things, that to start 
now might cost something, but that utter bank- 
ruptcy here, if we made Heaven by it, would be 
eternal gain; that I was going to leave them in the 
morning and might never see them again, until we 
stood before the great white throne. This, he 
could not resist; the Holy Spirit applying the truth 



126 EECOLLECTIONS. 

— and there being a great wave of sympathy pervad- 
ing the entire audience — he started; coming tome, 
reaching out his hand — with his face bent almost 
to his knees — he cried : "I'll go ! Cost what it may ! 
I'll go! I'll go!" We all bowed in thanksgiving 
and prayer, and dismissed about as happy a circle 
of Methodists as could be found anywhere. 

This man, who that night, had such a struggle 
to yield obedience to God, remained for years, and 
so long as I heard of him, a faithful Christian. 
Nor did he suffer the loss he anticipated. 
When the day of the race came, neither he nor his 
horse were at the accustomed place. But when the 
men, with whom he had made the bet, heard that 
he was not there, because he had joined the Metho- 
dists, they agreed to let him off without forfeit. 

This ended my first year's work as an itinerant. 
A year of toil, much anxiety, some peril, great joy, 
fair success, and a good deal of encouragement. 

From this meeting, in company with my brother 
and the preachers who had been with us, we went 
to Augusta, to assist Norris, who was to hold a 
camp and quarterly meeting near there. Here I 
met, for the first time, Rev. T. M. Kirkpatrick, who 
became my colleague the next year, and who has 
been my valued and dear friend ever since. It 
was at this meeting, that I made my first mission- 
ary speech, and succeeded in displeasing myself 
most thoroughly. 

At a quarterly meeting, held by my brother, 
three months before, an incident had occurred 



RECOLLECTIONS. 127 

in the love-feast, which I have always enjoyed 
repeating: 

The country west of Mt. Pleasant, between the 
head of Skunk and the Des Moines, had been near- 
ly all taken that spring by new settlers. My 
brother had visited them and had preached, and 
had organized them into a large class. He ar- 
ranged to hold the quarterly meeting early in June, 
in this neighborhood. A large log-house, in pro- 
cess of erection, with roof, and floor and openings 
cut for the windows and doors, was utilized for the 
Sunday morning service and love-feast. The at- 
tendance was large. The first one to speak in the 
love-feast, was a brother who rose and said: 
"Brethren, I am glad to enjoy this occasion. Some 
months since, I left my Eastern home, and all my 
associates to come to the west. I have been much 
disappointed. My family have been sick, and I 
have been sad and lonesome; but I want to get to 
Heaven, and hope you'll all pray for me." 

Another rose and told about the same doleful 
tale, adding that one of his children had died, and 
he felt despondent and discouraged, and hoped the 
brethren would pray for him. This brother had 
scarcely taken his seat, when a third, his face 
beaming with joy, sprang to his feet, saying: 
"Glory to God! Brethren, I'm just about as hap- 
py this beautiful morning, as I can be ! Six months 
ago I was living in Ohio, on a nice little farm, with 
my wife and two children. God called me to sell 
out and come to this country, and do something for 
Him and the Methodist church. I was not called 



128 RECOLLECTIONS. 

to preach, but as a layman to come and do what I 
could for the upbuilding of the cause of God. I 
advertised my place for sale, and in two weeks sold 
it for the money I asked. Bought my teams, 
arranged all my matters, and, by spring, was ready 
to start. By Saturday night everything was packed 
in the wagons, and we spent the Sunday with our 
friends and brethren in worshipping God together. 
We had a glorious time and promised each 
other to be faithful unto death, and meet in 
Heaven, if we should not meet again on earth. 
Monday morning we started, drove on until 
Saturday night, then found ourselves in a religious 
community, attended preaching and class meeting, 
and had a glorious day. Monday we went on, and 
drove until Saturday night; locked the wheels 
again, and had another grand, good Sabbath. Off 
on Monday, and before Saturday night we reached 
this neighborhood, and found just as good a claim 
as I could ask; and from the time of starting un- 
til now, there has not a hame-string, buckle or 
tongue, failed me. And, brethren, we had our 
family altar all the way, and I am just as happy as 
I can be in the body. Glory to God!" 

This was too bright a light not to show some 
others their delinquencies ; and this joyful brother 
had hardly concluded, when the first speaker rose 
up and, with tears and in penitence, said: 

"Brethren, I see it! I see it! I traveled on 
Sunday; I am sorry for it, and hope God will for- 
give me." 

Then number two stood up and said, "I traveled 



RECOLLECTIONS. 129 

ou Sunday, too, and I think I have been afflicted 
for it. I hope God and the brethren will forgive 
me." 

These confessions had a quickening effect, and 
that meeting was not soon forgotten. 

TVe returned home for a few days, where we 
found all well ; then we took a conveyance and with 
our wives, my brother and I started for Jackson- 
ville, the seat of the conference. 



130 RECOLLECTIONS. 



CHAPTEE XIII. 

OONFEEENCE met, September 27th, 1837. 
^ Bishop Soule presiding. The attendance 
numbered one hundred and thirty-eight members. 
Their field embraced the States of Illinois, Wis- 
consin, Iowa and Minnesota with the upper penin- 
sula of Michigan. The sessions were held in the 
basement of the First Jacksonville M. E. church. 
The audience room being occupied at the same 
time by preaching services, and the speakers being 
the most prominent men of the conference. 

The gatherings at all these meetings were large 
and elicited much interest and enthusiasm. The 
delightful memories of that conference occasion, 
are only marred by my recollections of grief and 
shame for the folly and wickedness of Simon 
Peter, who up to this time had been regarded as 
an honored member of our body. His very im- 
proper and unbecoming conduct towards the wife 
of the man at whose house he was being enter- 
tained, produced so much indignation that a mob 
of many hundreds surrounded the church, await- 
ing the action of the conference in his case. He 
was expelled from the ministry and membership 
of the Methodist Episcopal church. 



BECOLLECTIONS. 131 

In those days, the appointments were kept pro- 
foundly secret, and we juniors waited with the most 
intense interest to enjoy the excitement of their an- 
nouncement. Having obtained the plan of the whole 
work from some accommodating elder, we sat with 
sharpened pencil, to write the names as they were 
read; and when that of Chauncey Hobart was 
reached, it was for Knoxville circuit, with T. M. 
Kirkpatrick as colleague. This brought me into 
the same district, and with the same presiding 
elder as the year before. We reached home after 
a nine days' session, and were soon en route for 
our appointments. My brother Truman, took a 
four-horse team, and our two families, and left 
myself and wife at Monmouth, one of my preach- 
ing places, and my brother Norris and wife, at 
Rockingham, where he succeeded me. 

Knoxville circuit, the field of labor assigned to 
Bro. Kirkpatrick and myself, was, as we traveled 
it, two hundred and fifty miles in circumference, 
including Knox, Warren and part of Fulton coun- 
ties. Our first work was to find a house in which 
to live. This, too, was part of the preachers busi- 
ness, as the stewards had done nothing towards 
procuring a house; and, indeed, felt under no ob- 
ligation to do so. The only available shelter was 
an unfinished log cabin, sixteen feet square, half a 
mile east of Pierce's grove. Ii was half floored with 
puncheons and the chimney, half built. This was 
the best we could find; and we, Bro. Kirkpatrick, 
wife and three children, and myself and wife, moved 
into it. The neighbors turned out and assisted in 



132 RECOLLECTIONS. 

finishing the floor and chimney; covered a log pen 
with hay for a stable, and we were settled for the 
year. This work was a four weeks' circuit, with 
twenty-four appointments, which we soon increased 
to twenty-eight. 

We usually left home on Saturday, Bro. K. 
going west, and I, east; each returning after being 
absent two Sundays. "We remained at home until 
Saturday again, when each started in the opposite 
direction, Bro. K. going east, and I, west. So we 
continued through the year. 

As a sample of our alternated circuit work take 
the following: 

On the Tuesday of our first round, I preached at 
Long's and Bro. K. at "Well's. The day was bright 
and warm and we each had a "good time," and the 
people at each of these appointments were well 
pleased with their new preacher. Two weeks 
later I was at Well's and Bro. K. at Long's. The 
day was dark and stormy and but few out, and the 
preachers had each a "dry time." And, what was 
a little singular, these fair and foul Tuesdays 
alternated just two weeks apart for the next six 
months. As a consequence, Bro. K. always had a 
good congregation at Well's and was very popular 
and successful, while I at that place was consid- 
ered but a "dry stick." At Long's I always had a 
good congregation and a successful time, while 
Bro. K. was considered dull and prosy. This was 
the occasion of much pleasantry between us, and 
a kindly strife as to who, at these two points, 
should take in the greatest number of members 



RECOLLECTIONS. 133 

during the year. For six months Bro. K. was 
ahead of me, thirty-five to my twenty-six, but dur- 
ing the last half of the year I began to gain on 
him, and, after a two days' meeting held at Abing- 
don, attended by the Long's people, about the 
close of the year, we stood for those two points, 
respectively: Kirkpatrick, forty-three; Hobart, 
forty-seven. This was the only year in which I 
had a colleague. And no two men could have 
labored together more harmoniously than did we. 
It was to each of us, notwithstanding much toil 
and hardship, a year of great enjoyment and 
blessing. 

The watchnight-meeting, held at Elliston, was a 
memorable one. After a prayer meeting of an 
hour and a half, I requested Bro. Kirkpatrick to 
preach without any previous exercises, which he 
did. I had asked him to speak for about thirty 
minutes. But he had only been talking about 
fifteen minutes, when there came over him such a 
wave of power that he lost his strength, and fell to 
the floor; while the joyful shouts of the Christians 
and the cries of the penitent, filled the house. 
After this occurrence which did not, in the least, 
interrupt the exercises, the interest and power of 
the meeting increased, sensibly. Another sermon 
was preached, followed by a continuation of the 
prayer meeting; then an hour of testimony, when 
at 11:55 p. m., on our knees, in solemn, silent, 
prayerful consecration to God, we closed the year 
1837, and entered upon 1838. At this meeting, 



134 RECOLLECTIONS. 

several were converted, and the power of the Holy 
Spirit was manifestly present. 

About the middle of J anuary, on my way to my 
appointment, I had to cross Haw creek. Snow 
and cold weather had been followed by a thaw and 
heavy rains, and I found the creek to be two hun- 
dred feet wide, twenty-five feet deep and the water 
rushing with a swift current. How to get across 
was the question. I must do it, or miss my ap- 
pointment. 

After some thought and a prayer for guidance, I 
determined to swim across, or, at least, attempt it. 
Placing my saddle-bags on my shoulder, I rode in. 
My mare took the water well, and swam about half 
way over, when she either caught her foot in the 
girth, or in some other way became entangled, and 
sank. I remained in my seat until the water came 
up to my arms and floated me off. Seeing I must 
swim, I put my hand against my horse's head, 
pushed her away as far as possible, then struck out 
for the opposite shore. After I had almost gained 
the shore, I looked back and saw that my mare 
had risen and was swimming back. So I, too, 
turned and swam after her. On reaching dry land 
I found that my saddle and saddle-bags were left 
in the creek. Finding herself free, she had 
started back on a run ; and I, dripping wet, with 
overcoat and leggings on, and my whip still in my 
hand, started in pursuit of my saddle and saddle- 
bags. The latter I soon discovered lodged on a 
bush, and they were secured by wading out into 
water about four feet deep. My Bible, hymn boob, a 



RECOLLECTIONS. 135 

volume of Dick's works, and one volume of Rollin's 
Ancient History, I found badly damaged, and 
spread them out in the sun to dry. My saddle I 
saw about forty rods below, caught on a limb, 
where the water was twenty feet deep. By the 
assistance of two long willow sprouts, twisted to- 
gether securely, I managed to disengage the saddle, 
which was twenty feet from shore, but only to see 
it sink again beyond recovery. 

Starting back on foot, I was gladdened by the 
sight of my horse, returning at the top of her 
speed, and mounted by a young man who had 
caught her, and had come to see whether I was 
drowned. Returning home with him I dried my 
clothes a little, ate some dinner, and by a circuit- 
ous route, found a ford and crossed the creek. I 
reached the place of preaching about five p. M., but 
too late, as the hour of meeting was eleven A. m. 
This I greatly regretted. It was almost the only 
time I ever missed my appointment. My saddle 
was afterwards found by a brother, whom I had 
asked to get it when the water subsided; and I ob- 
tained it in about four weeks, on my next round, 
it being badly damaged. 

The third quarterly meeting was held at the 
camp-meeting, at the head of Elliston, in June. 
This was considered an unfavorable time; but our 
meeting was a grand success, forty-five being con- 
verted. 

Such was the state of religious feeling on the 
circuit, that another camp-meeting was arranged 
for in the middle of July, to be held at Pierce's 



136 RECOLLECTIONS. 

grove, one mile west of where we lived, now Ber- 
wick. As neither Bro. K. nor myself were yet 
ordained, and the elder could not be with us, we 
secured the services of Kev. James Haney. This 
good brother, the father of Revs. Bichard, William, 
Freeborn and Milton Haney, of Central Illinois 
conference, was a royal man and an excellent 
preacher. His wife, Aunt Mary, one of the noblest 
Christian women, was also with us, a leader and 
a mother in Israel. This meeting was produc- 
tive of many blessed results, and among them 
the conversion of Frank Snapp, which event was 
prefaced by some very solemn admonitions to him. 
About a week before camp-meeting, as he was 
plowing corn, a dark thunder-cloud came up, 
which drove him to seek the house. On reaching 
his door, he barely had time to snatch the bridle 
from his horse, when a flash of lightning struck 
the animal, killing him instantly. About five days 
after, in the house of his neighbor Carr, five chil- 
dren were playing together on the porch, when 
another thunder storm came up as suddenly. 
Three of the children were killed by the lightning, 
and the others paralyzed. 

These sad occurrences made Frank unusually 
thoughtful. He belonged to a brave, frank, ener- 
getic, wicked family of five or six brothers, who 
scorned to do what they thought a mean thing; but 
fighting and swearing were considered honorable, 
when occasion required it, according to their 
standard of morals. 

But to return to our story. Frank was at the 



EECOLLECTIONS. 137 

camp-meeting. The first sermon preached there 
was on the occasion of the funeral of the three 
children, killed two days before. From the very 
beginning a solemn seriousness rested on all who 
gathered at that meeting. Among the mourners, 
indeed the very first to come forward to the altar, 
was Frank Snapp. The struggle to believe was 
with him a hard one. The devil did not willingly 
relinquish his hold on so good a subject, and 
Frank had much to learn. It was difficult for him 
even to accommodate his habits of thought, to re- 
ligious usages. But he was determined to conquer 
or die. His oft-repeated prayer, after he had 
exhausted his entire and not very lengthy vocabu- 
lary of petitions was, "Oh, Lord; give me just such 
religion as my wife's got! : ' 

Many were converted around him, but he still 
struggled and wrestled on. Sunday was the fourth 
day of his great distress. That day, some young men 
had arranged to hold a prayer-meeting in the grove. 
Frank started to join them, but quickly turned 
back, saying to himself, "God is just as near to me 
in the tent. I'll seek him again there." Kneeling 
down in that tent, where was his wife's mother, he 
exclaimed in great seriousness: "Oh, my dear 
mother, do pray for me. I feel as if I should die!" 

The good mother, Sister Morse, did pray for him, 

and with her were soon joined three other elderly 

ladies: my own mother, Sister Pierce and Sister 

Bay — all soldiers of "the old guard," whose faith 

had achieved many a victory. Poor Frank prayed 

as well as he could, with broken accents and with 
10 



138 RECOLLECTIONS. 

groans and tears. It was not long before deliver- 
ance came. Frank's chains fell off, and the power 
of God fell on the people. And shouts of great 
joy, such as are not often heard this side of Heaven, 
rilled the tent and spread far out over the camp- 
ground. But neither tent nor camp-ground could 
hold Snapp, until he had told of the mighty joy 
that rilled his soul. All round he went, telling 
saint and sinner what God had done for him. 

We had a Bro. Jones there, a joyful, earnest 
Christian, who was converted about a year before. 
This man had sought Christ in great sorrow for 
an entire year — a long dark night. And when he 
found the Savior, his day was as bright and clear 
as his night had been dark and gloomy. He be- 
came one of those Christians who knew he was 
converted; a living proof that Christ has power to 
save from sin. A short time after he was convert- 
ed, his brother-in-law, whose name was Mings, with 
wife and three children had come to reside with 
Bro. Jones, and together they worked a large farm. 

Mings had been raised a "two seed" Parkerite. 
He was an anti-missionary, anti-Sunday school, 
anti-temperance, and anti-nomian Baptist; called 
by outsiders "a forty gallon Baptist." His teach- 
ing was that, "when you found religion, you didn't 
want it. When you had it, you didn't know it. 
If you had it, you couldn't lose it. And if you 
lost it, you never had it." To all this Bro. Jones 
could and did every day oppose his own joyful re- 
ligious experience, insisting that there was not a 
word of truth in such a theory. In this condition 



RECOLLECTIONS. 139 

of mind both families came to camp-meeting. And 
on Saturday night, Mings and his wife went for- 
ward for prayers. The mighty power of God was 
present to heal; and in a short time, fifteen were 
converted, and Sister Mings among them. Bro. 
Jones had come and kneeling by his brother-in-law, 
continued praying by his side for more than three 
hours. All the other seekers had been converted, 
or had retired. It was nearly midnight; but, left 
alone, these two brethren remained, and continued 
in prayer and supplication. 

I stood in the pulpit at some distance from them; 
considering, as I watched them, what was best to 
be done. Suddenly I saw Bro. Mings straighten 
himself out on his back, from a kneeling position, 
and quiver, and tremble a moment as if in a 
spasm. Then he instantly bounded to his feet and 
began to praise God and shout: "Glory! Glory! 
Bless the Lord! I'm converted! I'm converted!" 
His first rush was to the tent where were his wife 
and little ones. Snatching his wife in his arms, 
he exclaimed, "I'm converted! I'm converted! I 
know it!" and together they praised Him through 
whom they had been redeemed. 

There were quite a number to be baptized the 
next day. And I supposed that Bro. Mings and 
wife would choose to be baptized by immersion. 
But to my surprise, they both desired to be bap- 
tized by sprinkling, and to have their children 
also baptized. After the service was all over I sat 
down by him and said: — 



140 RECOLLECTIONS. 

"Bro Mings, how is this? I expected you and 
your wife would be immersed" 

"Well," said he, "I will tell you. You know I 
was brought up a Baptist, and taught that immer- 
sion alone was baptism. I was also taught that no 
man could know when he was converted. And 
that a consciousness of acceptance with God was 
impossible. But as I have found that this teach- 
ing is exactly the reverse of truth, in the two last 
things, I have concluded that they were wrong in 
regard to baptism, and in about everything else." 

The ingathering to the church from this camp- 
meeting was large. 

On the 31st of July that year, we were glad- 
dened at our home by the birth of a son, whom I 
then thought, and still think was one of the most 
beautiful babes I have ever seen. We named him, 
Calvin, in memory of my honored father. While 
absent at Alton, in the September following attend- 
ing conference, this dearly loved baby boy died; lent 
to us only about seven weeks. Of his illness I had 
not even heard, and knew nothing of his death, 
until I reached home, and found my wife in tears, 
sadness, and loneliness. We could only weep 
together, and bow in submission to His will, who 
"doeth all things well." 

This year, spent on Knoxville circuit, may be 
chronicled as one of hard work, poor pay, and 
glorious success: four hundred being converted 
and added to the church. I will. also state that at 
our fourth quarterly meeting, which was a camp- 
meeting, I raised over forty dollars to 



RECOLLECTIONS. 141 

help start the "Christian Apologist", edited by Dr. 
Nast, and at Kushville, soon after, took up a like 
sum, for the same purpose. 

The conference of 1838, my second conference, 
was held at Alton. Bishop Soule presiding, and 
at which I was when my little Calvin died. Our 
class, of nearly thirty, was examined for admis- 
sion, and was put through the "Flint Mill," which 
was then set to make common flour, and not super- 
fine, otherwise some of us would have been found 
"wanting." As it was, we all passed and were ad- 
mitted. 

As the Bishop was not well enough to speak on 
Sunday, it was arranged that Kev. Alfred Brunson 
should preach at 10:30 o'clock A. M., Peter Cart- 
wright at 3 o'clock p. M., and John Clarke at 7. 

In lucidating his text, "Go ye into all the 
world, &c.," Bro. Brunson was led to speak of the 
aggressive movements of the church, and how 
Peter, Paul, Polycarp, Athanasius, Ambrose, Au- 
gustine, Luther, Wesley, Asbury, McKendree, 
Boberts, Finley and Brunson had led the hosts of 
the Lord in her great missionary movements. 
This was well enough until it came to the last 
illustration, where two trips up the Mississippi 
and camping out a few nights, were incidentally 
compared to the heroism of Paul, the martyrdom 
of Kidley and the life work of Asbury and Wesley. 
Somehow the enthusiasm did not rise, especially 
as there was scarcely a man in the audience who 
had not himself endured much more than this, in 
the ordinary affairs of frontier life. Indeed there 



112 RECOLLECTIONS. 

was not a fur trader in the west, who had not en- 
countered twenty times as much, in securing a few 
musk-rat and beaver skins. 

A treat was anticipated at 3 o'clock when Bro. 
Cartwright was to preach, for his renown was great. 
But from the very first he wallowed heavily. He 
made, however, a manly effort to get out. but in so 
doing, went in the deeper. Then he tried to re- 
lieve his embarrassment by an exhortation, saying 
among other things, as only he could say it: ''Oh. 
I wish I had some of you rascals in a corner, I'd 
give you your own. once, before the devil gets 
you!" But even this attempt to master the situa- 
tion did not succeed. The effort was a failure. 
As he left the pulpit, Bro. Brunson, who had sat 
behind him, said: — 

"Bro. Cartwright, is that a fair specimen of 
your ordinary preaching?" 

"Humph!" said Cartwright, "It was as good as 
yours, if it was a failure!" 

On that Sabbath, my brother and I, with many 
others, were ordained deacons; having been elected 
to that office and admitted to full membership in 
the conference. 

Quite a sensation had been produced among us, 
during the week, by the arrival of Jason Lee, direct 
from Oregon. He came unheralded, and was in- 
troduced to the conference by Elder Brunson. He 
was a modest man and gave us an earnest but brief 
outline of his work in Oregon; also the reason of 
his return, <fcc. He remained a day or two, and 
then journeyed on to New York. 



EECOLLECTIONS. 143 

When the appointments were read, I was intent 
on writing down the names of the brethren in the 
different districts, yet not particularly concerned 
as to the places occupied by them, until we came 
to Kock Island district, in which I expected my 
work to be. To my astonishment we passed 
through it, and my name was not there. All the 
districts were read, until Quincy district, the last 
on the list, Peter Akers, presiding elder, was 
reached. The charges, one after another were an- 
nounced; but one or two remained. Then, in a 
tumult of excitement, I was ready to spring to my 
feet, and inquire, if I had not been forgotten, my 
name omitted. But I did, somehow hold still, un- 
til the long list was ended, and the very last one, 
"Macomb circuit, Chauncey Hobart," was distinctly 
uttered. I assure my friends I was very glad to 
get an appointment, even though it were the very 
last one. 



144 RECOLLECTIONS. 



CHAPTEE XIY. 

TN a few days we had reached Macomb, the coun- 
-L ty seat of MacDonough county, twenty-five 
miles from our old home. 

I found my work to consist of what had been the 
Macomb station, and a part of the Carthage circuit, 
with fourteen appointments to be filled in two 
weeks. Macomb and La Harpe were the two Sab- 
bath points, and by preaching at two other places 
also on Sabbath, I gained two days of rest, and 
could be at home two days and six nights out of the 
fourteen. Bro. Warner Oliver was on the Carthage 
circuit, and as he and I were in adjoining neigh- 
borhoods every two weeks, we soon arranged to 
meet at a point between these, preach alternately 
and spend the night together. This was mutually 
agreeable and beneficial. Bro. Oliver and I had 
been acquainted from boyhood. We were licensed 
by the quarterly conference of the same circuit; I 
at his father's house, and he, six months after, 
at my house. We had been recommended 
and received into conference at the same time, 
and were warmly attached to each other. Bro. 
Oliver was a very successful and talented young 
man. 



RECOLLECTIONS. 145 

At La Harpe there was a class of sixty, but reli- 
gion there was at a very low ebb. A Unitarian, 
a merchant from New Hampshire, had been sow- 
ing some bad seed in that place, which, unfor- 
tunately, took root. 

I had been preaching here but a few weeks when 
I was informed by one of the stewards, that "the 
people were much pleased with their preacher" and 
he thought I could do them good if I "would 
preach on practical religion;" but I had "better 
not touch anything doctrinal, such as the 'Divinity 
of Christ,' 'depravity' and 'regeneration;' that the 
people were too enlightened to believe what the 
old creeds taught on these subjects." I told him as 
politely as I could, that I had been sent there to 
preach God's word, and that I should preach what 
the Bible taught on these and all other subjects, 
according to the best light I had. 

Shortly after this, when preaching there, on the 
"Divinity of Christ," I observed my little merchant, 
twitching and squirming around, as if sitting on 
hot bricks, his nervousness increasing as the argu- 
ment progressed. At last, when I had proved that 
the Jehovah of the Old Testament was the Christ 
of the New, he could stand it no longer. Jumping 
from his seat, he caught his hat and ran out of the 
house. I was told afterwards that he vented his 
displeasure by violently abusing the preacher. 

To help matters, my second quarterly meeting 
was to be held at La Harpe, and I was careful to 
inform my presiding elder, Dr. Akers, of the con- 
dition of things. This opened the way for one of 



146 RECOLLECTIONS. 

the most masterly discourses on "Divinity," that I 
have ever heard, even by our grand Dr. Akers. 

These efforts did not, so far as I know, convince 
or reclaim those who had already committed them- 
selves to Unitarianism. But the doubts of others 
were removed, and the majority were strengthened 
in faith, and some, saved. Those who still willing- 
ly adhered to their errors, were the next spring cap- 
tured by a loquacious "saint," and swept into the 
seething maelstrom of Mormonism. So proving 
how short and steep is the descent from scriptural 
orthodoxy to the devil. 

As at this time my presiding elder could spend 
two Sabbaths with me, we arranged to have him 
preach at four of my week day points, and then 
hold a two days' meeting at Macomb. I had also 
secured the assistance of my brother and Bro. 
Oliver. We began the meeting on Saturday at 11 
o'clock A. M., and during the two days, six as 
eloquent sermons for point, power and appropriate- 
ness, were given as it has been my privilege to 
listen to, consecutively. 

Dr. Akers on Sabbath preached from Eph. III. 
14-21. To say that he exceeded himself would be 
saying very much to those who knew him in the 
days of his strength; for his were the utterances of 
a master mind, a cultured brain and an humble 
heart. I have listened to him often, always with 
profit and pleasure, yet I think I never heard him 
quite equal that sermon. He dwelt upon the 
foundation of our religion — God's love. Upon its 
rich and royal experiences; on its hopes and 



RECOLLECTIONS. 147 

boundless prospects; then he swept, as with an 
archangel's wing, the very highest heaven, and 
lifted us up amid the bursting raptures of the 
noon tide of glory; and left us with our hearts 
melted into tenderness and reverent love, and our 
poor faces bathed in tears. 

At the close of the third quarter after a two 
days' meeting of great power, resulting in the con- 
version of about forty, and good prospect of a 
still greater harvest being soon gathered, I was 
taken down with bilious fever. It had been a sick- 
ly season throughout that part of Illinois. Many 
had died, and in Macomb, a town of eight hundred, 
thirty-eight heads of families and many young 
people had been buried. In my case, the fever 
ran for twenty-four days, and left me so reduced 
that I could not move nor raise my hand for 
thirty-six hours. My good wife and my mother, 
who had hastened from Schuyler, nursed me 
tenderly, and a skillful Dr. Thompson, prescribed 
for me. But an excellent constitution, which I had 
inherited from my temperate godly parents, with 
the blessing of God, enabled me to recover from 
what had seemed, for a time, certain death. This 
severe illness, which laid me aside from the work 
that needed my care so much, brought with it to 
me, a very blessed experience. 

When I was converted, I had greatly desired to 
be overwhelmingly blessed. But instead, I had 
found sweet, calm peace. This I thankfully ac- 
cepted, yet had not ceased to pray for such a 
blessing as might lift me up where, in spirit, I 



148 RECOLLECTIONS. 

might see God. I longed for sanctification, as 
taught by the Fathers. This desire had been in- 
tensified by reading Wesley, Fletcher, Bramwell, 
S toner and others; until the constant cry of my 
heart had, been "Oh, for the fullness of the blessing 
of the Gospel of Christ!" During my illness and 
until after the crisis, my faith had been unwaver- 
ing; calmness and peace had filled my soul, dur- 
ing all my conscious hours. As I began slowly to 
recover, my desire and longing for a pure heart, 
returned. 

About three o'clock one morning — while all in 
the house except myself were asleep — I was en- 
gaged in thanksgivings to God for his loving kind- 
ness and mercy in thus restoring me to prospec- 
tive health, and to my work. I was also rejoicing 
in the assurance that, had I been called hence, 
it would have been to be forever with my Lord. 
Then, all at once, I began to feel that I could adopt 
the language of Paul and say, "whether in the body 
or out of the body, I know not; God knoweth." 

A mighty blessing had come. It came in un- 
utterable fullness, like the vast tide of a mighty 
ocean, filling and thrilling my soul with the 
conscious presence of the Lord of life and glory. 
I seemed to be lifted up above earth and earthly 
things, until I was near to the land of life. Sun, 
moon and stars, seemed under my feet, the glory 
and effulgence of eternal bliss were all around me. 
To the praise of God's grace, I acknowledge that I 
had not the least idea before that it was possible 
for a soul in the body to be so ecstatically happy, 



KECOLLECTIONS. 149 

as I then was. I remained in this blissful state 
about two hours, when I returned to earth again — 
but not as I went. My experience was far deeper 
and richer and sweeter than before. Like the 
food brought by the ravens to the prophet, £o that 
great baptism of love and power has not only 
lasted me forty days but over forty years, and it 
grows clearer and steadier as I behold, not far off, 
the spires of the Celestial City. 

Since that blessed morning, amid the lights and 
shades and sorrows of ordinary life, and the toils 
and trials of an itinerant, I have never doubted 
the genuineness of my conversion, nor the power 
of Christ to save to the uttermost. 

The harvest, of souls saved through the power 
of God's word, which I had hoped to gather, on 
Macomb circuit, was garnered, the next year, 
by my successor, Kev. Edward Troy, whose labors 
were blessed with the conversion of between three 
and four hundred. "One soweth and another 
reapeth." 

As soon as my strength would permit, my 
brother Truman came and brought us down to the 
old home. Here I was soon joined by my brother 
Norris — who had been shaking with the ague, on 
Kock Island circuit — that we might recuperate to- 
gether. After a rustication of about four weeks, 
I was able, though still quite weak, to start for 
conference, which my brother was not well enough 
to do. This was done at the urgent request of 
W. H. Taylor, who hired a conveyance and 
promised my wife and mother, about as solemnly 



150 RECOLLECTIONS. 

as Judah promised Jacob to bring back Benjamin 
safely from Egypt, that he would bring me 
back from conference, without harm. 

Conference met at Bloomington, McLean 
county, one hundred miles from Schuyler. We 
found kind friends along the route, who took 
special care for my comfort, and I reached the seat 
of conference, in improved health, on Monday af- 
ternoon, September 1839. The conference opened 
on Wednesday, Bishop Morris presiding. 

There were some changes made this year. B. 
T. Kavanaugh succeeded Rev. A. Branson in the 
Indian mission; J. T. Mitchell was sent to the 
Chicago district, and Hooper Crews to the Chicago 
station. These unexpected changes were made for 
reasons then deemed best, as there was, at that 
time, an under current of dissatisfaction in the 
manner of managing affairs at the north, that 
came very near assuming serious proportions. 

At this time my own heart, as well as that of 
many others, was made sad by tidings of the 
death of Rev. Peter R. Borein, who had died in 
Chicago, a few days before. To assert that we 
had no man in the conference who was his equal 
in fervor, zeal, pathos and boundless sympathy, is 
saying but little of him. 

In person, Peter R. Borein was under medium 
height, and somewhat portly in build. His dark 
brown hair, clear blue eyes, arching eyebrows and 
fair complexion, only served to add attractiveness 
to the contour of a fine Grecian face. His voice 
was as musical as we may suppose the harp of 



EECOLLECTIONS. 151 

iEolus to have been. Added to these exterior 
graces, was a heart, purified by the atoning blood ; 
moved by intensest love for a suffering race, in 
guilt and danger; and an abiding consciousness of 
the boundless tenderness and mercy and power of 
Christ to save to the uttermost. What wonder 
that his appeals to the impenitent were more like 
the admonitions of a lost soul, regretfully tossing 
on the billows of wrath, than like the expostula- 
tions of a fellow sinner! His invitations to come 
to Christ seemed to partake of the very sweetness 
of Heaven. Had he lived he would have had a 
national reputation. And it is but just to say that 
much of the strong-hold which Methodism to-day 
has in Chicago, is more attributable to the faith, 
zeal, purity and power of Peter B. Borein than to 
that of any other single individual or human 
agency. But seven years of itinerant life com- 
pleted his work on earth. 

At this conference of 1839, delegates were elected 
to general conference. They were Bevs. Cart- 
wright, Akers, Holliday and John Clarke. As C. 
Holliday was unable to go, J. T. Mitchell filled his 
place. 

This year, greatly to my astonishment, I was 
sent to Quincy station. And it appeared to me 
that "some one had blundered;" for I could see a 
hundred reasons why I should not go, and not one 
good one why I should be sent there. 



152 RECOLLECTIONS. 



CHAPTEK XY. 

(OUINCY was the county seat of Adams county, 
^r and was one of the only eight stations in the 
conference. However, go I must, and go I did. 

On my way there I attended a camp-meeting at 
the Wesley chapel, seven miles from Quincy. 
Here I met Bishop Morris, going to hold the Mis- 
souri conference, and I told him my doubts and 
fears. The good bishop tried to encourage me, as 
did also my presiding elder, Dr. Akers, with many 
kind, assuring words. But still I went to my 
work with much fear and trembling. On my 
arrival in the city I was warmly welcomed by the 
brethren. A house was found, and we were soon 
ready for work. 

During the pastorate of Bro. Borein, two years 
previous, the church had been greatly increased in 
membership, and they had undertaken to build a 
large brick edifice. In this enterprise they would 
doubtless have succeeded, but for the financial 
crash of 1837. But this overtook them with the 
church partly completed, and a debt of over four 
thousand dollars. This burden had been carried 
by a membership of eighty -two, not a wealthy man 
among them, and many were much discouraged. 



RECOLLECTIONS. 153 

But from the beginning of the year there were 
indications of prosperity. 

The church was in harmony, and there were not 
wanting a few Hannahs and a Caleb, and a Hur or 
two, who knew well what to do in the day of battle. 
And it was not long before there was "a sound of 
going in the tops of the mulberry trees." Clear 
indications of a revival were apparent. 

The first one who was converted was Miss Ral- 
ston, the sister of T. N. Ralston who had taken me 
into the church. This young lady had been under 
conviction, and in great distress of mind for some 
weeks and had tried in vain to hide her emotion. 
Immediately at the close of the sermon, one Sun- 
day morning, a good Sister Ballou observing that 
her countenance had assumed a glad and joyful 
look, asked her how she felt. 

"Oh," replied she in a whisper, "I'm just as hap- 
py as I can live." 

This was the beginning of a protracted meeting, 
and without help I held it for two weeks, preach- 
ing every night and twice on Sundays, beside labor- 
ing at the altar until 10 o'clock or later, each even- 
ing. The brethren, seeing that I was becoming 
worn, sent to help me, Rev. Harvey Brown, a 
superannuated member of the New York confer- 
ence, a wise and earnest man. He remained with 
us a week and assisted us much. Another week of 
effort alone, and we brought the protracted meet- 
ing to a close — with one hundred conversions and 
accessions to the church — thus more than doubling 
our membership in the first four months. 

11 



154 RECOLLECTIONS. 

Among the many things of interest which oc- 
curred during this revival, I will mention the case 
of a gentleman by the name of Clowse, whose wife 
was a member of the church. He had been a regu- 
lar attendant and would pray when called on, and 
seemed to be an earnest seeker of salvation; but 
he was always in deep sadness and almost in des- 
pair. Great solicitude was felt for him by the 
church, and prayer was offered up, continually, on 
his behalf. When he was invited to come to the 
mourner's bench, he replied that he had been there 
many times and found no relief. 

This I learned had been his state for some 
months before I came. No one had seen him smile 
for, perhaps, a year, and he obtained no relief un- 
til on New Year's morning, 1840. When just as the 
sun rose, he rapped at my door, and without waiting 
for a response, came in, radiant with joy, one of the 
happiest of men. When asked about this great 
change, he answered nearly as did the Rev. Mr. 
Tennant, of New Jersey, in the days of Whitefield. 
When he was asked in regard to his wonderful 
trance, he replied: "I cannot tell j t ou all." So 
said Bro. Clowse, and he added: "It seems wrong 
for me to try; but such a revelation of Heaven and 
Christ, and of God's power to save, as I have had, 
I did not think was possible. My conversion has 
been as miraculous as was that of St. Paul." This 
was a genuine transformation, and his life, while I 
knew him, was as bright as a glad heart at peace 
with itself and God, could be. 

The Mormons had been ejected from Missouri 



RECOLLECTIONS. 155 

in December, 1838, and had crossed the Missis- 
sippi at Quincy, where with Joe Smith, the prophet; 
his father, the patriarch; and Hiram, his brother; 
they had been residing when I came to 
Quincy. During the preceding summer, Smith's 
father had died and many of his people. He and 
those who were left, were poor and so inclined 
from necessity to be quiet and peaceable. But as 
at our revival four or five of their members had 
been re-claimed and joined our church — one of 
these an elder and one of "the seventy"— the lead- 
ers became alarmed. In order to counteract our 
influence, they sent out several committees to visit 
the city, composed mostly of elderly women. 

Apostate Methodists were sent to Methodist 
families, apostate Baptists to Baptist families, and 
thus, with the wisdom of the serpent, these women 
went to the people of the other demominations. 
These hypocrites called on our members and told 
them of their former religious experience, where 
and when they had been converted, where and 
when they were sanctified, and how well they had 
enjoyed themselves; adding that all they had ever 
known of religious enjoyment was nothing when 
compared with what they had experienced since 
joining the Mormons, and much more of like sort. 

This they repeated from house to house with an 
artfulness and an apparent sincerity, which began 
to affect the minds of some of the weaker ones, in 
many of the churches. They had become particu- 
larly distasteful to our members, because they 



156 KECOLLECTIONS. 

would crowd themselves into our revival meetings 
and talk and advance their views. 

I was finally obliged, in self-defence, to exclude 
them from our love-feasts. This made them angry 
and impudent, and on one occasion, when at the 
door, they insisted upon coming in, they went so 
far as to demand, in a boisterous and insolent way, 
the reason for their exclusion. I informed them 
that one reason was, that they did not recognize us 
as Christians, teaching and telling that no one 
could be saved but Mormons. To which they 
made answer: — 

"That is a lie!" 

This reply was about what I had expected from 
such a crowd, so I took no notice of the insult, but 
coolly locked the door, and prevented further in- 
trusion at that time. 

The following Sabbath evening, thinking that it 
might do some good, I announced that on Monday 
evening I would lecture on Mormonism, provided, 
that the people thought it a subject of sufficient 
importance to come out, really doubting whether 
there would be any who would so consider it. On 
Monday afternoon, however, Bro. Harris, one of 
those who had left the Mormons and joined our 
church, called on me and said: "You had better be 
ready. You are going to have a crowd to-night." 

And, indeed, so it proved. There was a crowd: 
scores of Mormons and hundreds of others, repre- 
senting the entire city. The church would not 
hold the people. Many stood around the doors 
and windows. 



EECOLLECTIONS. 157 

After the singing and prayer, I introduced the 
subject of the lecture by saying that the occasion 
of the present evening's discussion was: First, to 
settle a question of veracity between myself and 
some of the Mormon leaders, who had charged me 
with lying, in stating that they believed that every- 
body would be damned but Mormons. Secondly, 
to examine the claims of Mormonism. 

To settle the first, I took "The Elders' Journal," 
a monthly magazine, edited and published by Joe 
Smith. I read from the July number, 1837, a 
series of questions addressed to Smith, by one of 
his elders from the South, among which was this 
one : — 

"Will everyone be damned but Mormons?" 
The reply was, "Answer next month." 

Turning to the August number, I read the ques- 
tion again: "Will everybody be damned but Mor- 
mons?" 

Answer: "Yes; and a good many of them, unless 
they do better than they have done." 

This first point settled, I proceeded to the main 
subject: "The claims of Mormonism to credence 
as a revelation from God." 

My first proposition was that — "It would be un- 
just in God to demand that man should accept any- 
thing as a revelation from Himself, under the pains 
and penalties of His eternal displeasure, without 
furnishing proof that such revelation was from 
Himself." 

This I illustrated by reference to the giving of 
the law to Moses; the forty years' sojourn in the 



158 EECOLLECTIONS. 

wilderness; the crossing of the Jordan, and the 
fall of Jericho. By the miracles wrought by the 
prophets, in attestation that God had spoken by 
them; and by the fulfillment of the prophecies 
which they uttered; by Christ and His apostles, 
who, "by signs and wonders and divers miracles" 
wrought in the audience of all the people, made 
full proof of the divinity of their God-given 
authority and mission. 

My second proposition was — "The denial of the 
claims of Mormonism to inspiration, and credence 
because of the utter want of proof." 

In discussing this, I stated that their claim to 
"gifts of healing," was false; "that Christ never 
failed when he undertook to heal the sick; that 
the disciples, after the resurrection, never failed 
when they undertook to heal the sick. But 
here," said I, "during the last summer in Quincy, 
many have been sick — and many have died, their 
own patriarch among the number— some of these 
sick people had sent for their prophet and elders, 
who had prayed for them, laid their hands on them, 
and anointed them in the name of the Lord. Some 
of these have recovered, and many have died. 
Others in the town have been sick and have not 
sent for the prophet and elders. No one has laid 
hands on them, nor anointed them in the name of 
the Lord; some of these have recovered and some 
have died. There is not a particle of difference, 
and not the least proof of miraculous power." 

I then showed that the "gift of tongues," in the 
Apostolic church, was the real knowledge of the 



RECOLLECTIONS. 159 

actual languages spoken. But that the gift of 
tongues claimed by the Mormons, was the shal- 
lowest kind of gibberish and hypocrisy; that we 
had men here in Quincy — who understood the 
Greek, Hebrew, Latin, French, German, Spanish, 
and perhaps other languages. And I defied the 
whole Mormon fraternity to produce a man, woman 
or child, who could speak correctly a single sen- 
tence in one of these languages, which he or she 
had not previously learned or been taught. And 
that they would not do it, simply because they 
could not do it. 

"It is an easy matter" I said, "for one hypocrite 
in a meeting, to get up and gabble like a goose, 
and then for another hypocrite to get up and say 
that such nonsense, meant this, or that, whatever 
he pleased; but that no one but a simpleton, would 
be deceived by such folly. Instead of such con- 
duct being a proof of miraculous power, it is a 
proof of the most devilish hypocrisy, and a desire 
to deceive." 

As to the gift of healing, I inquired why the 
Mormons did not heal their own members several 
of whom are here, maimed, half deaf and blind? 

The answer was, that they could not do it — and 
they knew it! 

Lastly, I showed from "Pratt's Yoice of Warn- 
ing," the "Book of Covenants," and other publi- 
cations of theirs, that their intention was to sub- 
vert this government, and to give the inhabitants 
their choice between Mormonism or death. 

While speaking on this point, and proving it by 



160 RECOLLECTIONS. 

quotations from Mormon authority, I saw the feeling 
of indignation rising, and I thought best to quiet 
the people and to conclude by saying, gently, that 
we could well bear with such vaporing as this, 
as the Mormons were too feeble to arouse any fear, 
and too contemptible to excite anything but pity 
and disgust. This calmed the people, but left 
the Mormons enraged. 

As I concluded one Mormon sprang to his feet 
exclaiming: — 

"This is a jug-handled business — all on one side!" 
And he was proceeding to speak further, when a 
storm of indignation rose from all sides of the 
house, and cries of "Put him down! Put him out!" 
This induced the gentleman to take his seat, and 
taught him that just then, "prudence was the bet- 
ter part of valor." 

When ready to leave the house, I found myself 
escorted by six stalwart men, who, fearing that the 
Mormons would follow and attack or perhaps kill 
me, were determined to protect and, if need be, 
defend the speaker. Of this I had not the least 
fear, and no personal violence was at any time 
attempted. 

In one of my pastoral visits, however, a day or 
two after, I was introduced to an old "Mother Hig- 
bee." 

"Oh," said she, as my name was mentioned, 
"you lectured on Mormonism the other night!" 

"Yes," I replied. 

"Well" said she, "you told a lie!" 



BEOOLLECTIONS. 161 

Somewhat amused, I remarked pleasantly, "that 
is easier said than proved, madam." 

"Yes, but you did," she said fiercely, "you told 
a lie!" 

Seeing that she was so spiteful and persistent, I 
asked her to tell me what it was that I had said 
that was a lie. 

"You said," she replied, "that the Mormons had 
an organization among themselves, called, at first, 
'The Daughters of Zion,' afterwards, 'Danites,' 
whose business it was to prevent anyone from 
leaving them; that this society might first admon- 
ish, then whip and afterwards take the life, if 
nothing else would prevent the members from 
leaving them. Didn't you say that?" 

"Yes," I replied, "I did!" 

"Well," said she, "that is a lie!" 

"How do you know it is a lie?" I asked, sternly. 
"Because," .said she, "I have been with them from 
the beginning, and my two sons are, and have 
been in the 'First Council' among the highest. 
And if this had been so I know they would have 
told me." 

"Well," said I, looking her steadily in the face, 
"I want to ask you a few questions, and I want 
you to tell me the truth. 

Did you join the Mormons before the temple in 
Kirtland was endowed?" 

"Yes." 

"Did you go to Missouri before July 1837?" 

"Yes." 

"Did you hear Sidney Kigdon's 'salt sermon,' 



162 RECOLLECTIONS. 

delivered in the Far West, on the Fourth of July 
in that year?" 

"Yes: I did." 

"Well, now tell me the truth. Did not Sidney 
Kigdon say in that sermon, that the report in the 
New Testament, that Judas went out and hanged 
himself, was wrong? And that the truth was, the 
disciples put him to death because he had betrayed 
his master? And did he not say, that the account 
in the Acts, that Ananias and Sapphira fell down 
dead, was false? That the truth was they were 
killed by the young men because they had lied? 
And did he not say that the Mormons had better 
take warning? That one had already 'slipped his 
wind' and others had better be careful? Now, 
tell me the truth, did he not say these things?" 

To this she answered doggedly: "I won't tell 
you what he said!" 

I simply, remarked, with all the emphasis I 
could muster, (as^ this conversation was carried on 
in the presence of a Bro. and Sister Dilley, whom 
she had been endeavoring to proselyte), "You 
know he did say all this! And that he said it for 
the very purpose of preventing persons from leav- 
ing the Mormons!" 

I was warmly thanked, afterwards, by many 
prominent men in the city and vicinity for my 
lecture. And I am glad to be able to say that it 
had the effect of putting an end to proselyting 
while the Mormons remained in Quincy, which 
was until the next spring. 

During that spring I attended a public debate, 



RECOLLECTIONS. 163 

held in the Baptist church, between Dr. Nelson, 
and the Mormon magnates on "The Claims of the 
Mormon to Recognition, as a Christian Church." 

Dr. Nelson the challenger on the occasion, was 
the author of "Nelson on Infidelity,'' and the 
founder of several classical and theological insti- 
tutes, then in successful operation in the neighbor- 
hood. Bishop Eels was selected as the Mormon 
speaker; Jo. Smith, Sidney Rigdon, P. P. Pratt 
and Orson Hyde of the Mormon fraternity being 
present. This debate lasted three days, but was 
never concluded, as in the course of it, Dr. Nelson 
was taken ill with a severe attack of vertigo, to 
which he had been subject. So that, while it at- 
tracted considerable attention at the time, the re- 
sult anticipated by Dr. Nelson and his friends, 
was not realized. 

Soon after this, the Mormons moved to the old 
village plat of "Commerce,'' which had been for 
sometime deserted; and which Jo. Smith & Co., 
had bought early in the spring of 1840. This was 
in Hancock county, on the east bank of the Missis- 
sippi, and at the head of the "lower rapids." 
Smith asserting that it had been revealed to him, 
that this place was to be named "Nauvoo," and 
that here the saints were to gather together froin 
the four winds of heaven. Of course all the saints 
obeyed, and while there, for a year or two and 
struggling with poverty, they made but little 
trouble. 

The wonderful religious interest in the city of 
Quincy during 1839-1840, commenced in the Meth- 



164 RECOLLECTIONS. 

odist church. This was continued and increased 
by a protracted meeting, held in the Congrega- 
tional church, under the direction of Eev. Foote, a 
co-laborer with Mr. Finney of Oberlin. After 
that, a union protracted meeting was held in the 
Baptist church, which resulted in a number of 
conversions. For this meeting I was fortunate 
enough to secure the services of Rev. W. C. 
Stribbling, who greatly endeared himself to the 
people, while laboring there. During the summer 
of 1840, two camp-meetings were held, in which 
Quincy station and Columbus circuit united. Bro. 
J. H. Piper, the circuit preacher, and myself were 
responsible for the first. This was held in the 
Hanks neighborhood. It was a meeting of great 
power, and the Spirit of the Lord was present, in 
convicting and converting, from its commence- 
ment. Bro. Harvey Brown preached at 11 o'clock 
A. M. on Sunday, with great acceptability. 

In the evening, there was a wonderful stirring 
among the dry bones. Many were converted, and 
the prayer meeting with the seekers was con- 
tinued until the dawning of the morning. 

But Monday was the great day of the meeting. 
I had slept from five in the morning until nine. 
Then Bro. Piper came to me and said I must get 
up and preach then. I consented, rather reluc- 
tantly; and spoke from Isaiah I., 18., "Come now, 
and let us reason together, saith the Lord." I 
had only moderate liberty, but the Spirit was 
wonderfully present, to apply what was said. 



RECOLLECTIONS. 165 

After the sermon Bro. Brown took the stand, 
saying:— 

"I am not going to exhort, or argue, or per- 
suade. I want every seat in this altar cleared 
for mourners. I shall not sing you up; but right 
here, and now, I want everyone, on this camp- 
ground who wants religion, to come into this altar 
and seek for it!" 

No sooner was the opportunity given, than the 
movement forward seemed simultaneous all over 
the ground. Every seat was filled about as quick- 
ly as the seekers could get to them. 

"Give us the first row of seats outside the altar," 
said Brown. These were filled. 

"Give us the second row!" And these were 
nearly filled. And among the seekers came a Mr. 
Campbell, said to be the wickedest man in Adams 
county, led in by Bro. Clowse, who had followed 
him when he left the ground while I had been 
preaching. 

"Now," said Bro. Brown, "every man to his post. 
Here is work to be done; don't stop to shout, we 
shall have plenty of time to shout in Heaven, 
now is the time to pray." All knelt, saint and 
sinner. And a mighty volume of prayer went up 
to God. 

Soon the ringing notes of victory were heard 
from the converted. One and another, and another 
in quick succession, until scores were rejoicing in 
the blessed assurance of sins forgiven. Waves of 
pentecostal power fell upon the people, and the 
whole camp-ground became one vast scene of exul- 



166 RECOLLECTIONS. 

tation and triumphant joy. For more than an 
hour, nothing could be heard but the great shout 
of that happy company of Christian people. Just 
how many were converted at that time, we could 
not definitely ascertain ; but there were taken into 
our own church, about one hundred and fifty, as 
the result of that camp-meeting. 

The second one was held at Wesley chapel. 
And this, too, resulted in the conversion of many 
and a great ingathering of souls. 

My first year in Quincy ended joyfully; at the 
same time, it was my judgemnt that I ought not 
to return there for the second year. This I stated 
to my official board and to my presiding elder. 
But the church and Dr. Akers were of a different 
mind in the matter, urging that I ought to return. 
To their expostulations I finally yielded, and con- 
sented to come back for the second year; but 
principally on account of the many new converts, 
who had joined the church during the year and 
needed much care. I, perhaps, ought to say here 
that we paid on the church debt, during my first 
year, two thousand dollars. 



RECOLLECTIONS. 167 



CHAPTEE XVI. 

CT7HE annual conference of 1840, met at Spring- 
field; Bishop Waugh, presiding. 

To meet our examinations od Monday, it was 
necessary to get near the city on Saturday. Ac- 
cordingly, sixteen of us met at Kev. Peter Cart- 
wright's, sixteen miles west of Springfield, on 
Saturday afternoon, and attended a two days' meet- 
ing in that neighborhood, which had been ap- 
pointed in view of the preachers coming to confer- 
ence. In these meetings we all assisted. On 
Monday morning we rode into Springfield on 
horseback. 

As we started in the morning, Sister Cartwright 
remarked to her husband: — 

"You may look for me about Friday." 

"Humph," said Uncle Peter, "You need not ex- 
pect me to look after you if you do come!" 

"Thank you, sir," said she, "I have a little popu- 
larity of my own; I can take care of myself." 

To us younger members, our annual conferences 
were real Jerusalem feasts, as we had nothing to 
do but enjoy the religious services of those occa- 
sions. It was at this conference that we first or- 
ganized a literary and theological society for the 



168 RECOLLECTIONS. 

junior preachers. A course of study was adopted, 
committees on examinations appointed, and John 
W. Merrill, of McKendree college, was chosen 
president, and Norris Hobart, secretary. This 
association, which was very beneficial to its mem- 
bers, was continued while I remained in that con- 
ference. 

On Sabbath, twenty-eight, I think, of our class 
of thirty, including myself and brother, were or- 
dained elders, by Bishop Waugh ; Peter Cartwright, 
assisting. My reception on my return to Quincy 
for the second year, was most kind and cordial, and 
I was soon at my regular work again. 

Two things I saw needed this year to be done. 
One was to care for, and train, religiously, the 
many who had been gathered into the fold the 
previous year; and the other to keep up my own 
pulpit efforts. To the accomplishment of these, I 
addressed myself, with all the energy, force and 
faith which I possessed. 

My rules of life, were to study from six in the 
morning until noon; do pastoral work from two 
until six in the evening; then study again until 
nine or ten, except on the evenings of our prayer- 
meeting. 

The congregations were large and my success in 
building up the church encouraging. The most of 
those who had united with the church, remained 
steadfast. Many of them have since finished their 
course with joy, and have left a good record, while 
others are still, and have been for more than forty 



RECOLLECTIONS. 169 

years, active and useful, and many of them leading 
members in the church. 

My pulpit efforts were maintained, I think, to 
the standard I had fixed, but it cost me too 
much. My health failed; I became too nervous to 
sleep, and was consequently obliged to give up 
most of my studying for the last three months. 
While this was a subject of great regret to me, yet, 
so far as I am aware, it was not known or thought 
of by others. 

About the last of August, Bro. Piper and I had 
a camp-meeting on the head of Bear creek, twenty- 
five miles north of Quincy. This camp-meeting 
resulted in establishing a Methodist church in that 
neighborhood, which is still, so far as I know, "a 
city set on a hill." 

During the spring and summer of this year, 
1841, 1 preached, once in four weeks, in the Murphy 
neighborhood, at the urgent request of Mrs. 
Murphy, mother of Dr. Jno. H. Murphy, of St. 
Paul. On these occasions, I always enjoyed the 
hospitalities of this excellent family; and the 
pleasant friendships there formed, have been but 
cementing during more than forty years. The 
dear mother — a "mother in Israel, indeed" — lived 
to the age of nearly ninety years, exemplifying, to 
the last, the power of Christ to save to the utter- 
most. Hers was a pure, true, brave spirit. We 
laid her away in the cemetery by the falls of St. 
Anthony, only a few days since, in joyful 
hope of meeting in "our Father's house." I per- 



170 RECOLLECTIONS. 

formed the last loving rites, and conducted the 
funeral services of my dear old friend. 

My second year at Quincy closed with the debt 
decreased by another thousand dollars — a large 
and prosperous church — in uninterrupted peace 
and harmony. We mingled our tears at parting, 
commending each other to God and the word of 
His grace. 

The conference for 1841, was held at Jackson- 
ville; Bishop Morris, presiding. 

This was a most harmonious session. My pre- 
siding elder, Dr. Akers, took occasion to ask me 
early, how often I had preached at conference. 
Surprised enough at such a question, I replied 
that I "had never dreamed of doing such a thing, 
and wouldn't preach under any consideration." 

"Well, we will fix that," he said in his genial 
way. I, rather fearful at first from this half inti- 
mation, soon quieted myself by the assurance that 
Dr. Akers was too wise a man to do such an absurd 
thing, and tried to forget the matter. But what I 
dreaded came; that evening I was announced to 
preach the next day at 2 o'clock p. m. To say that 
I was scared, embarrassed, confused with the 
thought, is nothing compared with the fact. I was 
all these and much more. But the decree was 
inexorable, and try I must, in the strength of the 
Lord. 

Fearing, trembling and praying I went into the 
pulpit, took my text, James I., 27, "Pure religion," 
etc., and, for about forty minutes, did the best I 
could in contrasting the impurity of heathenism, 



RECOLLECTIONS. 171 

the sensuality of Mohammedanism, and the devel- 
opment of Judaism, with the pure religion of the 
Gospel of Christ. The last was clear in its proofs; 
experimental in its acquisition; saving in its results 
and glorious in its issue. I am thankful to say, 
that the Lord helped me, and I, at least, had a 
happy time, and was without anxiety as to results. 

Bro. Stribbling, who was noted for his pleasant- 
ries, was present at this conference, to settle up his 
book accounts. He came to the door of the base- 
ment, in which the conference was held, just as 
Bro. J. F. Wright, the book agent, was going out, 
and they were introduced to each other by Bro. 
Mitchell. 

"Ah," said Bro. Stribbling, in his own peculiar 
way, "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the 
ear, but now mine eye seeth thee!" To which Bro. 
Wright, making a very low bow, responded: 

"And I abhor myself in dust and ashes!" 

Bro. Stribbling was for a moment decidedly non- 
plused, then they each laughed heartily, and were 
friends at once. 

This year I was sent to Rushville to succeed my 
brother, Norris, who was sent to Alton. Rushville, 
at the time, was one of the best stations in the 
conference, and my brother's year had been very 
successful: over one hundred having united with 
the church. Most of these were from the Sunday 
school, and needed special pastoral care; quite a 
number had joined as seekers of religion. The 
membership was large, including the greater por- 
tion of the wealth and business talent of the vil- 



172 BECOLLECTIONS. 

lage, and the adjacent country, and having more 
members than all the other churches in the 
vicinity. 

A busier year than this one was, I don't know 
that I have ever had. For, in addition to my own 
large charge and regular work, there were so many 
of my old friends, in adjoining neighborhoods, who 
came urging me to preach for them, that I thought 
best to set apart Wednesday evening of each week 
to filling appointments in the country. In Rush- 
ville the congregations were very large, as they 
had been through the preceding year. 

Finding that many of my Sabbath school proba- 
tioners were only seekers, and some of them hardly 
that, and that many in the congregation were 
seriously desirous of obtaining religion, and that a 
number of the old and substantial members had 
become cold and formal, too much so in fact, to 
take hold of the work spiritually, I commenced, 
immediately after the holidays, a series of revival 
meetings. It was not until the third night that an 
invitation was given to mourners to come to the 
altar. Then fifteen presented themselves, under 
deep conviction. There were in the audience at 
the time, more than one hundred members of the 
church, and to my utter surprise and astonish- 
ment, I could only get two old ladies forward to 
pray for the seekers. 

This state of things brought a very heavy bur- 
den on me: holding meeting every afternoon and 
evening — talking, singing, praying, exhorting, 
preaching and visiting, and almost all by myself. 



RECOLLECTIONS. 173 

The seriousness of the unconverted increased; but 
there was no break or change with the member- 
ship until the eighth night, when God honored the 
faith of the few who were engaged in the work, 
and fourteen were converted. This occasioned me 
more joy than I can express, and it also increased 
our working force, and best of all, it placed the 
seal of Divine approval on our efforts. 

For two weeks we kept up the meetings, and the 
result, direct, was that twenty-five who had not 
belonged to the church, with many of the proba- 
tioners who had been seekers, were happily con- 
verted. We should have continued longer, but I 
broke down, I could not speak from exhaustion, 
and was obliged to desist. 

Among those who claim my grateful remem- 
brance during those two weeks of labor and of 
faith, against the world, the devil and the coldness 
and indifference of a church "at ease in Zion," were 
Mrs. Josiah Parrott, Miss Sarah Pope, (now Mrs. 
Samuel Spates, of Eed Wing M. E. church), 
Father and Mother Johnson, and my own dear 
mother. These assisted me, laboring faithfully for 
the conversion of souls, and who will all, I believe, 
have many stars in the crowns of their rejoicing. 

In the spring of 1841, there were two instances 
of special Divine direction in my work, which 
I gratefully record: 

Fourteen miles west of Rushville, there was a 
neighborhood in the forks of Grindstone creek, 
where there had been a Methodist class. It had 
also been a preaching place, but the members had 



174 KECOLLECTIONS. 

moved away; preaching had been given up, and 
the Mormons had tried to get a foothold among 
the people, and had succeeded in getting a few to 
join them. The neighborhood consisted of be- 
tween forty and fifty families, with a multitude of 
young people, left apparently without any religious 
teaching. Learning of this state of things, the 
impression came to me like an inspiration and 
grew strong within me, that I ought to go and 
hold a two days' meeting there. So convincing 
was this impression that I arranged to have my 
pulpit filled, and sent an appointment to the Grind- 
stone people for the 16th and 17th of April. Start- 
ing in company with Bro J. Dewit, a young local 
preacher of my charge, we arrived in time to meet 
the 11 A. M. appointment, and I spoke to a good 
congregation, from I Tim. I., 8. Bro. Dewit 
preaching at night. 

Sabbath morning I held a social meeting, and at 
11 A. M. preached from Rom. VI., 22: "Being made 
free from sin." "My arrangement was: First, to 
show, in what sense and to what extent men are in- 
volved in sin. Secondly, how we are made free 
from it — sin imputed, sin inherent (depravity), 
sin actual, in all wrong doing, in thought, word 
and deed. These were illustrated and explained. 

On my second proposition, which was the prin- 
cipal one, it was shown: First, that the idea that 
men suffered in this life in proportion to their 
crimes, was both absurd and false. Secondly, 
that to teach that sinners suffered in hell until hell 
fire freed them from sin, or until they repented 



RECOLLECTIONS. 175 

and believed, was anti-scriptural and ruinous. 
Thirdly, that the doctrine that we are made free 
from sin by baptism, as taught by Romanists, 
Mormons, Campbellites and some others, or that 
baptism is a condition necessarily of pardon and 
renewal, was false and unauthorized by the word 
of God. Its absurdity was set forth by showing: 
First, that this doctrine takes the pardon of the 
sinner out of the hands of the Almighty, and places 
it in the hands of the administrator. Secondly, 
that it is salvation by works. Thirdly, that it 
makes the salvation of some impossible, as it would 
be in the case of an Alexander Selkirk, or any 
other excluded from human association. Fourthly, 
that this was unscriptural. 

Then came the "tug of war;" as this doctrine of 
baptismal regeneration, was the doctrine taught 
by the Mormons and the Campbellites who were in 
that neighborhood; and the pentecostal sermon of 
St. Peter (Acts II., 38,) was given by them as 
their foundation and authority : they teaching that 
baptism and not faith was the condition of pardon; 
while I asserted, and proved, that faith is in the 
Scripture made the condition of salvation. 

It was shown that Peter's sermon consisted 
of two parts: The first being from the fourteenth 
to the twenty-first verse ; that this division covered 
all of human history froni the coming of Christ 
designated by the Patriarch Jacob (Gen. XLIX., 
10,) as the "last days," and extending to the 
general judgment, (see II. Peter III., 3-7); 
and that during this entire period, "whosoever 



176 RECOLLECTIONS. 

shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be 
saved." (Acts II., 21.) The remaining portion 
of that sermon, I explained, was devoted, exclu- 
sively, to those Jews who had rejected Jesus as the 
Messiah. This is proved by the apostle's own 
words, "Ye men of Israel" (verse 22); and, again, 
"God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have 
crucified, both Lord and Christ" (verse 36). 

To see the propriety of using such language to 
the rejecters and crucifiers of our Lord, we must 
go back in their history, and ascertain, what their 
obligations were to receive Christ, when He came; 
and what their condition was to be, should they 
reject Him. Going back to the giving of the law, 
I said: — 

"We find that such was the overwhelming reve- 
lation, which God made of Himself to Israel, at 
the giving of the law, that they were fully con- 
vinced, that should He again reveal Himself in 
that way, they must die. So deeply were they 
conscious of this that they said to Moses ( Ex. XX. 
19, If we hear the voice of the Lord, our God, 
anymore, then we shall die. Go thou near, and 
hear all that the Lord, our God, shall say, and 
speak thou unto us, all that the Lord, our God, 
shall speak unto thee, and we will hear it, and do 
it!" 

To this proposition the Lord answered, "I have 
heard the voice of the words of this people. They 
have well said all that they have spoken." That 
is, God agrees to their proposition, that He will 
not speak again to them as He did in the giving of 



RECOLLECTIONS. 177 

the ten commandments; but that He will speak to 
them through Moses ; and they agree, on their part, 
that whatever God commands them through Moses 
to do, "they will hear and do." 

Now, in the XYIII chapter of Deuteronomy, 
verses 15-19, we learn exactly what it was, which 
they were to do. We have it in these words : "The 
Lord thy God, will raise up unto thee a Prophet 
from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto 
me; unto him ye shall hearken. According to all 
that thou desiredst of the Lord thy God in Horeb 
in the day of the assembly saying: Let me not 
hear again, the voice of the Lord my God, neither 
let me see this great fire any more, that I die not. 
And the Lord said unto me, they have well 
spoken, that which they have spoken. I will raise 
them up a Prophet, from among their brethren, 
like unto thee, and will put my words in his 
mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I 
shall command him. And it shall come to pass, 
that whosoever will not hearken unto my words 
which he shall speak in my name, I will require it 
of him." 

Peter in quoting this passage, gives the exact 
meaning, as follows: (Acts III., 22, 23.) "A 
Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto 
you of your brethren, like unto me; Him shall ye 
hear in all things whatsover He shall say unto you. 
And it shall come to pass that every soul which 
will not hear that Prophet, shall be destroyed from 
among the people." 

"This," I went on to say, "makes the case very 



178 EECOLLECTIONS. 

plain. Israel was under special covenant obliga- 
tion to adhere to Moses until 'that Prophet,' Christ 
came. Bat when that Prophet came, they were 
under the same obligation to forsake Moses and 
adhere to Christ, that they had been before his 
coming, to adhere to Moses. To make this more 
immutable, Moses, in the XXVII, chapter of 
Deuteronomy, commands Israel, after they should 
pass over Jordan, to go up to the valley between 
Mt. Gerrizim and Mt. Ebal; that six tribes were 
to stand on Mt. Gerrizim to bless, and six on Mt. 
Ebal, to curse ; that Levi was to stand in the valley 
between, and to pronounce the blessings and the 
curses. To each of which the entire nation, was 
to respond 'AmenF 

"The last curse is in point in this connection. 
It is this : 'Cursed be he that confirmeth not all 
the words of this law to do them. And all the 
people shall say Amen!' (Deut. XXVIL, 26.) 
And the curse which should come upon them, was 
that they should be cursed in person, in their 
families, in their basket, in their store; cursed 
with sickness and bondage, driven before their 
enemies; peeled, torn, scattered as vagabonds and 
wanderers among the nations, until life became a 
burden. (See Deut. XXVIIL, 16-68.) And all 
these curses were to come upon them, if they did 
not recieve that Prophet, Christ when He came. 
Every Jew understood this. There was not one of 
them that did not know that the Messiah was to be 
received when He came; nor one who did not ex- 
pect and intend to go to Him when He should 



RECOLLECTIONS. 179 

come. The question in the days of the Master, 
was not, shall we go to Christ when He comes? 
but, Is Jesus of Nazareth the Christ ? 

"Keep these facts in mind: More than 
fourteen centuries from Moses had passed by; 
prophet after prophet, had spoken; promise after 
promise had been given; continued and increased, 
and concentrated light had shone upon this subject. 
The promise given to Moses was renewed to later 
prophets, as the promise given to Moses had been 
but the renewed and developed promise given to 
Adam and Eve in 'the garden.' 

"The family, the place, the time had all been 
announced. The Jewish world was waiting. The 
time had come. The Messiah appeared, heralded 
by the angelic host. Heavenly visitants had been 
on the wing. Strange rumors had been circulat- 
ing among the people. The saints in the temple 
were exultant with joy. A new and glorious star 
was added to the constellations. Then an anxious 
pause of thirty expectant years ensues. When all 
unlooked for, the voice of John the Baptist crying 
in the wilderness, 'Prepare ye the way of the Lord,' 
startled the nation and the people of Israel. Like 
a mighty trumpet tone came the great herald of 
the Master; rousing to intense excitement, calling 
Israel from Dan to Beersheba to repentance, and 
announcing the actual presence of the long ex- 
pected Messiah. He came, not as the scribes and 
the rulers had taught, — in the splendors of an 
oriental potentate — but as a Galilean peasant from 
the obscure village of Nazareth! 



180 EECOLLECTIONS. 

"If He had come as a king, announcing His line- 
age and claiming the throne, the scepter and the 
crown of David ; endorsing their teachings and in- 
citing them to rebellion against the government of 
Rome; no doubt the Jews would have followed 
Him to the death. But instead He associated with 
the lowly and selected His disciples from among 
the unlearned fishermen of Gennesaret. He visit- 
ed the temple, turned out and scourged the occu- 
pants who were desecrating it, and charged the 
rulers with making it a den of thieves. He de- 
nounced, the Scribes and Pharisees as hypocrites, 
filled with all manner of corruption, and boldly 
asserted that none but the pure in heart should 
see God. He taught a morality such as the world 
had never heard, and sustained His claims to the 
Messiahship by miracles of the most wonderful 
character. The blind saw; the deaf heard; the 
lepers were cleansed; the maimed were made 
whole; devils were cast out, and the dead were 
raised up. Chronic diseases were healed by His 
touch; and sickness and sorrow fled from His 
presence as darkness before the sun. 

"Excitement ran high. As the ocean is stirred 
when the great winds sweep over and agitate its 
billows, so were stirred and tossed and agitated 
the hearts of Israel's thousands, during the years 
of the public ministry of the Son of God. Those 
who recieved Him, worshiped Him as Divine; 
while His enemies denounced Him as an imposter, 
a drunkard, a glutton, a Sabbath breaker, a blas- 
phemer, and in league with the devil. 



RECOLLECTIONS. 181 

"Such fearful conflict and variance of opinion, 
could not exist long together. One party or the 
other must triumph. Hence, when the great feast 
of the Passover came, His enemies who desired 
His overthrow, planned for His arrest and death. 
Betrayed by a false disciple, tried by a mob 
governed court, condemned by a cowardly judge. 
A judge, who while he asserted the innocence of 
the Savior, yet yielded to the clamor of the multi- 
tude, who demanded His death, crying His blood 
be upon us and upon our children. Nailed to the 
cross, hanging three dreadful hours in agony, a 
spectacle to angels and to men; while the darkened 
sun, the trembling earth and the startled dead 
attested their horror of the crime. He died: was 
buried in Joseph's tomb; a great stone closed the 
sepulchre; the king's seal, and a Roman guard 
made it secure. Vain thought! The third morn- 
ing angel hands rolled away the stone! And the 
mighty Christ came forth, Lord both of the living 
and the dead! He was seen of the Marys; then 
by the eleven; then in Galilee, by five hundred 
brethren at once; then at the sea of Tiberius; then 
back to Jerusalem; and on the fortieth day He 
ascended from the Mount of Bethany, in the 
presence of His disciples ; and the heavens received 
Him out of their sight. 

"For ten days they wait in prayer, and on the 
fiftieth morning from the crucifixion, the great 
pentecostal baptism came. The disciples are 
exultant; the multitude of strangers come to- 
gether, the one hundred and twenty, clothed with 



182 KECOLLECTIONS. 

tongues of fire, speaking in many languages and 
proclaiming with power, the Messiahship and 
resurrection of Christ. The multitude are some- 
what confused, while the haters and murderers of 
Christ are asserting that this is a drunken de- 
bauch. And it is just at this point that Peter 
gave his memorable sermon, the latter part of 
which is addressed, exclusively, to the haters, be- 
trayers and murderers of Christ. He charges 
them with the crime, which they dare not deny. 
And then conclusively proves, from their own 
Scriptures, that the death and resurrection of the 
Lord Jesus, has been prophetically announced 
hundreds of years before. Then turning to them 
clothed with the awful majesty and earnestness of 
truth, he asserts, 'Therefore, let all the house of 
Israel know assuredly that God hath made that 
same Jesus, whom ye have crucified both Lord and 
Christ.' When this was proved it followed that 
several other things were also proved. For, if 
Jesus was the Christ, then these men had broken 
the covenant made with God, by the Fathers. 
They had put themselves out of covenant relation 
with God; had cut themselves off from the cov- 
enants of promise, had brought upon themselves 
the curses of the violated law, and had enacted 
the blackest crime that was ever committed in the 
universe, by staining their hands in the blood of 
the Son of God, and invoking the curse of His 
blood on themselves and their children ! 

"Three thousand were convinced; and in shame 
and agony cry out — not like the jailor, 'What 



RECOLLECTIONS. 183 

must we do, to be saved?' — but, 'Men and brethren 
what shall we do? How shall we avoid the fear- 
ful curse which we have incurred? How get out 
from it? How avert the storm of divine wrath, 
the utter and irreparable ruin which awaits us?' 

"To this view of the subject, the answer is per- 
tinent. They had publicly ridiculed, persecuted, 
denied and murdered the Lord's Christ, and in- 
voked the curse of His blood on themselves and 
their children. Now nothing but a confession of 
their sins, and an espousal of the Messiah of God,^ 
equally as public, can bring them within the reach of 
pardon. We must remember, that when Peter 
spoke, the lines were so sharply drawn, that noth- 
ing short of being publicly baptized in His name 
was regarded as acknowledging Him as the Mes- 
siah. Hence, the answer to those who had denied, 
and who would now acknowledge Him was: 'Re- 
pent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the 
name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, 
and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.' 
This public acknowledgment of Jesus as the Christ, 
would bring them back into the covenant relation, 
which they had violated, and take off the curse to 
which they had so wickedly subjected themselves 
and nothing else would. 

"That Peter did not teach nor believe that bap- 
tism was the condition of pardon, is proved as fol- 
lows: Twelve years after the Jewish Pentecost, 
came the Gentile Pentecost. Peter was at 
Joppa, where he had that wonderful vision of a 
great sheet let down from Heaven, full of all man- 



184 RECOLLECTIONS. 

ner of beasts and creeping things — and he heard a 
voice saying unto him: 'Slay and eat.' He an- 
swered: 'Not so, Lord, for nothing common or un- 
clean hath entered into my mouth at any time.' 
To which the voice responded: 'What God hath 
cleansed, that call not thou common.' Thrice was 
this repeated, then all was taken up again into 
Heaven. While he pondered as to the meaning 
of the vision, three men called at the gate, and 
inquired for Peter. The spirit said: 'Go with 
them, nothing doubting.' These men told him 
of this visit of the angel to Cornelius, a devout 
Gentile, and that the angel directed Cornelius to 
send to Joppa for Peter, who should tell him ( Cor- 
nelius) 'words whereby thou and all thy house 
shalt be saved.' (Acts VI., 14.) Peter went; but 
knowing that he would be churched for it, as soon 
as he returned to Jerusalem, he took with him 
five brethren. On arriving at Ceserea, he found 
that Cornelius had called his friends and house- 
hold together and was waiting for him. As Peter 
came near the house, he was met by Cornelius, who 
explained the reason for his sending for him, and 
introduced him to the company. Peter commenced 
his sermon by saying: 'Of a truth I perceive that 
God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation, 
he that f eareth God and worketh righteousness is 
accepted of Him.' He then introduces Christ, 
heralded by John, who healed the sick, raised the 
dead and went about doing good; was crucified, 
raised from the dead, and ordained of God to be the 
judge of the quick and the dead. 'To Him,' says 



EECOLLECTIONS. 185 

Peter, 'give all the prophets witness, that through 
His name, whosoever believeth in Him, shall re- 
ceive remission of sins.' 

"Mark here! First, this is the same Peter who 
preached on the Pentecost, twelve years before, 
and then opened the doors of the church to the 
Jews. Secondly, he is now preaching the first 
sermon to the Gentiles. Thirdly, the angel had 
told Cornelius that Peter should tell him words 
whereby he and his house should be saved. (Acts 
VI., 14. ) Fourthly, he announced the condition — 
'Believeth 1 — 'Faith' — without one word on the sub- 
ject of baptism. Fifthly, as soon as the word was 
uttered it was heard; as soon as heard, believed; 
and as soon as believed, salvation came in mighty 
power. 'The Holy Ghost fell on them,' says Peter, 
'as it did on us at the beginning.' A glorious high 
land, dry land conversion, and not a drop of water 
about it! And if you will read each case of con- 
version recorded in the New Testament after Pen- 
tecost, you will find that every Jew was baptized 
before he was converted, and that every Gentile 
was converted before he was baptized. Why this? 
Because the Jew was under the curse of a violated 
covenant, while the Gentile was not. This shows, 
conclusively, that faith was, and that baptism was 
not, the condition of Gentile salvation. 

"I will now prove by Peter himself that faith 
was, and that baptism was not the condition of the 
Jews' salvation. Ten years after the conversion of 
Cornelius and twenty-two years after the Pente- 
cost, the first great council was held at Jerusalem. 

13 



186 RECOLLECTIONS. 

Present: the apostles and elders, Paul and Barna- 
bas, and many others. The question to be settled 
was, 'Shall the Gentiles be circumcised and keep 
the law of Moses ?' ( Acts XV. ) The controversy 
was sharp, as the record proceeds to say (verse 7): 
'And when there had been much disputing, Peter 
rose up and said, 'Men and brethren, you know 
how that a good while ago, God made choice among 
us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the 
word of the Gospel, and believe. And God which 
knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving 
them the Holy Ghost, even, as He did to us, and 
put no difference between us and them — purify- 
ing their hearts by faith.'' 

"Four things are here to be noted. First, this 
was the same Peter who had preached at the Pente- 
cost twenty-two years before. Secondly, here he 
declares that the hearts of the Gentiles were puri- 
fied by faith, not by water baptism. Thirdly, he 
also states, that God put no difference between us 
(Jews) and them (Gentiles) on this very thing. 
Fourthly, therefore, if the hearts of the Jews were 
purified by water baptism, and the hearts of the 
Gentiles by faith, then God did put a difference 
between the two, and Peter stated what was not 
true. But if Peter told the truth, then the Jews 
were saved by faith and not by water baptism, and 
our point is proved. 

"That Peter did not attribute salvation to water 
baptism, but to faith, is shown by his own declar- 
ation. When some thirty-three years after the 
Pentecost, and not long before his death, he writes 



RECOLLECTIONS. 187 

his general epistle to the strangers scattered abroad, 
he congratulates them as the elect of God; as heirs 
of an incorruptible and eternal inheritance; as 
kept by the power of God through faith; as having 
their faith tried as by fire.' And then adds, speak- 
ing of Christ, 'Whom, having not seen, ye love; in 
whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing 
ye rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory; 
receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation 
of your souls.' This certainly settles the matter so 
far as Peter is concerned, that the soul is saved 
by faith, and not by water baptism. 

"But if it be urged that water baptism was, on 
the day of Pentecost, taught by Peter to be the 
condition of salvation, I will now prove that this, 
was changed at a subsequent date, and by a 
higher authority than that of St. Peter. 

"Four years after the Pentecost, when Saul of 
Tarsus, on his way to Damascus, was arrested by 
the power of God, and prostrated to the ground, 
the Savior appeared to him and said in the Hebrew 
tongue, 'Saul! Saul! Why persecutest thou me?' 
He answered, 'Who art thou, Lord?' To which 
the Master answered, 'I am Jesus, whom thou per- 
secutest! It is hard for thee to kick against the 
pricks.' Trembling with fear, Saul cried out: 
'Lord! What wilt thou have me to do?' 

"Part of the Savior's answer to this inquiry is 
found in the ninth chapter of Acts, and part in the 
twenty-sixth chapter, as follows: 'But rise and 
stand upon thy feet, for I have appeared to thee for 
this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness, 



188 RECOLLECTIONS. 

both of these things which thou hast seen, and of 
those things in the which I will appear unto thee; 
delivering thee from the people, and from the Gen- 
tiles, unto whom now I send thee. To open their 
eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and 
from the power of satan unto God, that they may 
receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among 
them that are sanctified by faith, that is in me.' 

"Here, then, we have a Gospel ministry, sent to 
Jews and Gentiles, proclaiming this, and only this, 
that every blessing which the Gospel brings, from 
the first ray of light flashed into the understand- 
ing, to the full fruition, enjoyed by the glory 
crowned conqueror in Heaven, is obtained by faith 
in Ch risk And observe, this is the last enactment 
which Heaven has made on the subject, and it is 
from the highest authority in the universe of God. 
It stands an irrefutable demonstration that men 
are to receive remission of sins, and inheritance 
among them which are sanctified by faith and not 
by water baptism. This glorious arrangement 
opens wide the gates of Gospel grace; and who- 
soever will, may take of the water of life, without 
money and without price. So rich is the atone- 
ment, so abounding the grace, so efficient the 
spirit, and so exactly adapted to the conditions of 
humanity, that nothing but rejection and unbelief 
can keep men out of Heaven. The world's Re- 
deemer does not stop to inquire, What is your 
name ? Where have you been ? What have you 
done? but, — What is your faith? And just so soon 
as the humbled and penitent heart trusts in Christ, 



RECOLLECTIONS. 189 

his sins are pardoned, his stains washed out, his 
nature renewed, and he becomes a child of God. 
Heaven is burdened with solicitude for man's 
salvation, and all the powers of hell cannot keep 
that soul away from Christ who desires to be saved, 
on Gospel terms." 

This sermon was wonderfully owned of God, and 
the effect was abiding. 

In the afternoon, Bro. Dewit preached, and in 
the evening I spoke again from Heb. II., 3, 
"How shall we escape if we neglect so great salva- 
tion." Again the Lord helped me, mightily. Be- 
fore the sermon closed, the cries of the penitents 
filled the house, and the voice of the preacher was 
almost drowned. They fell on their knees where 
they were. We prayed with them as long as we 
could, but were obliged to leave them the next 
morning. 

But the Lord cared for the people. A good 
brother, Harrison Berry, a Cumberland Presby- 
terian, a friend of mine, about my own age in life, 
and in the ministry, carried on the revival which 
then commenced, until between three and four 
hundred were converted in this and adjoining 
neighborhoods. 



190 RECOLLECTIONS. 



CHAPTEE XVII. 

TN just two weeks, according to a previous ar- 
-*- rangement, I went with Bro. Wm. G. Piper, 
(junior preacher on Rushville circuit) to hold a 
two days' meeting on the ridge between Sugar 
creek and the Illinois river. This had at one time 
been an appointment on the circuit, and we had 
had there a large class but some had died, and others 
had moved away, and a few had joined the Canip- 
bellites, so that at this time there were only three 
or four persons, in the neighborhood, who were 
trying to live religiously after the Methodist pat- 
tern. But the country was well settled and there 
were many young people whom I felt sure should 
be cared for religiously. 

Uncle George Skiles and his good wife, Aunt 
Molly, who were surrounded by more than fifty of 
their children and grandchildren, were very de- 
sirous that I should hold a meeting there. And 
my own convictions were that I ought to go and 
preach to these people. 

Saturday at 11 o'clock A. M. we had a large and 
attentive audience, and again in the evening. 
Sabbath morning love-feast was followed by a 
sermon in which I again discussed the conditions 



RECOLLECTIONS. 191 

of pardon. And the Lord magnified Himself in 
His word, marvelously. In the afternoon Bro. 
Piper preached and in the evening there was a 
mighty stir and there were three clearly and 
happily converted. This ronsed the animosity of 
the Campbellites, and they refused us the use of 
the school house, when we proposed to stay 
another day. This difficulty was soon overcome, 
however, as Uncle George Skiles quietly remarked, 
that we could have his house. This was larger 
and more central than the school house. So on 
Monday at 11 A. M. we held meeting there; Bro. 
Piper preached and I exhorted, and after singing 
and prayer we dismissed the people. But not one 
would leave; all sat down again, many weeping. 
When I saw this, I began to sing: — 
"Oh, when shall I see Jesus!" 
In this all joined heartily. We had not 
sung half the hymn through, when a young 
lady, who had been forward for prayer the 
night before, arose from the most distant corner 
of the house, and pressing her way among the 
closely seated people, knelt down beside where 
Bro. Piper and myself sat. As she knelt, I 
remarked that it was always in order to call for 
mourners; and if there were any that desired to 
find Christ, let them come forward. To my sur- 
prise, every unconverted person in the house, with 
one exception, crowded to the front and knelt 
down. We all prayed. The place seemed filled 
with God's presence, and His power was revealed 
in a most wonderful manner. Soon the shouts of 



192 RECOLLECTIONS. 

happy Christians and rejoicing converts, made 
snch music as the angels of God delight to hear. 

After about half an hour of prayer and praise, I 
heard a strange sound near where I was kneeling. 
Looking around, I saw "Old Grandfather Justice," 
Aunt Molly's father, then ninety-one years old, 
just converted, and as happy as he could be. 

"Bless the Lord ! Oh, Bless the Lord!" he said, 
"I shall even yet get to Heaven! I shall! I shall! !" 

This was the oldest person I have ever seen con- 
verted. He had joined the church as a seeker — 
some seventy years before, in East Tennessee, — 
when his wife was converted, and who had lived and 
died a Christian. He had long before given up a 
religious life; but still affirmed that he would get 
to Heaven. "Because," said he, "the Bible says, 
'the prayer of the righteous availeth much.' And 
if there is a righteous person on earth, it is my 
wife, Molly; and she prays for me every day." 
Four years after, I rode from Springfield, a dis- 
tance of sixty miles, to bury the old gentleman. 
He had lived the four years as a Christian and 
had died right. 

We had service at night in the school house. I 
spoke from Deut. XXX., 19. "I call Heaven and 
earth to record this day against you that I have 
set before you life and death, blessings and curs- 
ing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy 
seed may live." 

It was a time of God's convicting power. The 
crowd was so great that room at the mourners' 
bench, could only be obtained for ten persons, and 



RECOLLECTIONS. 193 

those were converted in less than twenty minutes; 
making in all, since Saturday, between twenty and 
thirty who had been converted, and were praising 
God with joyful hearts. 

I returned to Kushville the next day. But the 
revival went on, and continued for more than two 
years, spreading through several neighborhoods, 
until over four hundred were converted; and 
among them four or five who became preachers. 
Several churches were also raised up in that part 
of the country, as the result. 

This year ended very pleasantly, and I started 
for conference, which was held at Winchester, 
leaving my wife comfortable and happy with a 
lovely little daughter of six weeks. But the day 
after I left home, our little Rebecca was taken sud- 
denly and seriously ill and I never saw her again. 
When I returned home, I found that, all unknown 
to me, the angels had carried our baby to the 
skies. Our home was emptier, but we had one 
more in Heaven. 

Before leaving for conference, I had told the 
old friends in the Skiles neighborhood that if they 
would have everything ready for a camp-meeting, 
I would spend a few days with them, before going 
to my next appointment, and would be responsible 
for the preaching. 

The conference at Winchester was a very happy 
one; Bishop Roberts, presiding. I was sent to 
Peoria, having made but one request to my pre- 
siding elder, and that — that I judged it not best 
for myself to be returned to Rushville. According 



194 RECOLLECTIONS. 

to promise, accompanied by my brother, who was 
bringing his wife to visit her sister, we proceeded, 
after a day spent together at my home, to the 
camp-meeting. The brethren had made wise ar- 
rangements, and advertised it well. The attend- 
ance was large and the meeting a much greater 
success than was anticipated. 

After I had preached on Sabbath at 11 o'clock 
A. M., we held a prayer meeting at the altar, at 
which the power of God fell upon the people in a 
marvelous manner. Several lost their strength; 
and, among others, an old acquaintance by the 
name of Greer, called "Little George Greer." He 
had refused, for a time, to come forward for prayer; 
but did at last consent; and very soon after, he 
fell to the ground, losing his strength and lying 
like a dead man. His wife, Martia, was very much 
alarmed, and rushing to me exclaimed in great 
distress :— 

"Bro. Hobart, What is the matter with George? 
Will he die?" 

"Oh, no:" said I, "he will not die!" 

"Well," said she, "you have got him into this, 
and now you must get him out!" 

"No:" I replied, "I have not got him into this, 
and I cannot get him out. The Lord has done 
this, and He only can bring him out." 

"What shall I do?" she asked. 

"Just sit down by him," I said, "and see that 
his position is natural, and then sing and pray for 
him." 

This she did. And in an hour George came out 



KECOLLECTIONS. 195 

all right, and about as happy a mortal as had been 
seen in that country for many a year. The meet- 
ing ended with a march around the ground, with 
joyful shouts and earnest prayers. There were be^ 
tween forty and fifty converted, and we all re- 
turned to our homes, assured that God had been 
with us, and had given us good success. 

The following week my wife and I were on our 
way to Peoria. I arrived there a stranger, but 
soon found myself among friends. I also found a 
very pleasant little society, a small church and 
everything in good order, as left by my predeces- 
sor, Kev. N. P. Cunningham. 

My first sermon was from Col. I., 28: "Whom 
we preach, warning every man, and teaching every 
man in all wisdom; that we may present every 
man perfect in Christ Jesus." 

The Lord helped me and I was at once received 
as a messenger from God. A revival commenced 
almost immediately, attributable to the faithful 
seed-sowing of my predecessor as much as to any 
effort of mine. Our little church was always well 
filled, and many times, was uncomfortably crowded. 
The revival spirit continued and the church nearly 
doubled its membership before the close of the 
year. Some who had been known as desperately 
wicked, were converted and united with the church : 
between sixty and seventy. 

This year I was most efficiently aided in my 
labors by my official board: Bros. Bristol, Parker, 
Dyvelbiss, King, Smith, Knowlton and many others, 
who did their work well. Two elect ladies, Sisters 



196 EECOLLECTIONS. 

Frye and Smith, planned their departments of 
labor with great skill and success, and helped me 
much. 

Among the many very pleasant memories of the 
friends in Peoria, is that of Dr. J. C. Frye, son of 
Rev. Michael Frye, and nephew of Revs. Joseph 
and Christopher Frye, of Baltimore conference. 
Dr. Frye is one of nature's noblemen, a manly, 
genial, kindly gentleman. May he win and wear 
the crown of life eternal, and may He whom we 
serve reward him a thousand fold for his many 
kindnesses to me and mine. He and his good wife 
are still pressing on. 

In the spring it was thought best to build a par- 
sonage. Money was scarce; our members poor; 
lumber hard to obtain. But a good Bro. Wilson, 
who lived on the east side of Peoria lake, four 
miles from town, gave us liberty to get out the 
timber on his land. So we made a "frolic;" that 
is, some twenty or thirty of us went over and cut 
and hewed, in one day, enough for the frame of 
the house. This was rare sport. And it was in- 
creased by Bro. Wilson's finding a bee-tree, while 
we were at work; and we were soon feasted on 
butter and honey, and worked with a will. Very 
speedily the lumber was rafted and taken down; 
and with a good deal of volunteer work and some 
donations, when I left Peoria, at the close of 
the year, the parsonage was plastered, almost ready 
for occupancy, and out of debt. 

The next year conference met at Quincy ; Bishop 
Andrews, presiding. The same whose case the 



RECOLLECTIONS. 197 

next year caused such a furor in the church, and 
resulted in its separation. 

The session was harmonious, and to me a 
most delightful one; affording me a joyful re-union 
with both preachers and people. 

My presiding elder, Kev. A. E. Phelps, had 
intimated that I should return to Peoria, and as 
there seemed many good reasons why I should, 
and none why I should not, I expected to do so. 
To my surprise and disappointment, when the ap- 
pointments were read, I found myself set down for 
Jacksonville station. I was astounded; not Jack- 
sonville! Surely there must be a mistake! So 
large and literary and well educated a community, 
and considered the best appointment in the con- 
ference! But the die was cast and there was no 
appeal; I must do the best I could. 

Hastening back, I found my wife, and infant son 
four weeks old, well and prospering, for which I 
was devoutly thankful. After naming my boy 
Joseph Christopher Frye, for my friend, Dr. Frye, 
I bid my many friends a tearful farewell and 
hastened to my work; thus concluding a very hap- 
py and successful year at Peoria. 

I was most cordially received at Jacksonville, 
and soon became fully absorbed in my duties 
there. I found the church large, including a good 
share of the wealth and talent of the place. Our 
best preachers had been stationed here for years, 
and many gracious revivals had been enjoyed. 
Yet for the three preceding years, a very bitter 
feeling had existed between some leading members 



198 RECOLLECTIONS. 

of the church, and, as is always the case, the feel- 
ing had extended to the church members generally, 
so that the sympathies of nearly all were on one 
side or the other. 

Faithful efforts had been made by our wisest 
and best ministers, and by my predecessors to heal 
this breach. Church trials and civil suits had 
been instituted; but these had failed to bring 
peace. A few months before my appointment, Rev. 
Peter Cartwright and others had advised that 
charges and suits be withdrawn; and all parties 
had agreed to say no more about the trouble. But 
I soon found that, although th^ snake was 
"scotched," he was not dead by any means. I saw 
the principal parties in the case, and used the best 
wisdom and skill I had to heal these troubled 
waters, but found that it was impossible; they 
were still bitter. 

I concluded after a while, and with much prayer 
and reflection, that time and the grace of God could 
alone effect the needed cure. I therefore addressed 
myself to the great work of preaching the Gospel, 
and endeavored to build up the church in right- 
eousness and true holiness. How well I succeeded, 
is not for me to say. But the facts justify me in 
saying, that for two years the church was crowded 
with hearers ; several were converted and the mem- 
bership generally gave evidence of advancement in 
the divine life. 

During my second year, I succeeded in securing 
a lot, with a small house for parsonage: the gift of 
my old and valued friend, W. C. Stribbling. We 



RECOLLECTIONS. 199 

built an addition of two stories and fitted it up in 
good order, and I had the pleasure of leaving a 
comfortable parsonage for my successor. Soon 
after being settled at Jacksonville, I became 
acquainted with Eev. W. H. Milburn, since known, 
both in Europe and America, as the "blind 
preacher." He had been just received on trial in 
the Illinois conference and appointed junior 
preacher on the Winchester circuit. As his circuit 
lay but a few miles west of Jacksonville, his home, 
a good part of his time was spent on my charge. 
Thus we spent several hours of each week together, 
and there sprang up between us a friendship like 
that between David and Jonathan. 

Bro. Milburn was at this time almost boyish in 
appearance; but even then the brilliancy of his 
imagination and the ease and fluency of his lan- 
guage, were an astonishment even to his friends. 
Our association was not only very pleasant, but it 
was to each of us mutually profitable. He found 
in me, in regard to sermonizing and studying, just 
what he needed, and I, in him, a fountain of sun- 
shine and joy, and lines of thought which I had 
not before taken up. Since then, my friend has 
acquired a national reputation as an orator, and 
has fully met the expectations which his young 
manhood promised. 

The college grounds near Jacksonville, having 
been nicely seated for the Commencement exercises, 
we arranged to hold there, on the 4th of July, 
1844, a grand union Sunday school celebration. 

The day ca me, everything was in readiness, and 



200 KECOLLECTIONS. 

the city in expectancy. At the appointed hour, a 
large procession of children and teachers, headed 
by music and banners, marched to the beautiful 
college grounds. There were several addresses 
made by learned college professors and others, all 
of whom did very well; after which "Billy Mil- 
burn," was announced to speak. He came for- 
ward; and, without notes or manuscript, for about 
thirty minutes so electrified and thrilled that 
audience of thousands, that but little was talked 
of, or indeed, remembered, of any other address 
than his. 

In 1845, Gen'l. Andrew Jackson had died at the 
Hermitage, near Nashville, Tenn. And as was to 
be expected, when the bitter strife of partisan poli- 
tics had been hushed by the stillness of the tomb, 
there were but few whose hearts did not prompt 
them to desire, that in some suitable way the 
nation should express its sense of sorrow, and 
loss, and show its respect for the memory of the 
mighty dead. 

In accordance with these feelings a meeting of 
citizens was called at Jacksonville — then consid- 
ered the Athens of Illinois — to make arrangements 
for a public memorial occasion. It was there decid- 
ed that a eulogy should be delivered. Who should 
deliver it? was a much more difficult question to 
settle. Many propositions were made, and voted 
down. For as the talent of the town was about 
equally divided between the Whigs and the Demo- 
crats, neither party was willing to give the other 
the opportunity of speaking, or, of making capital 



RECOLLECTIONS. 201 

out of the memorial occasion. It was finally 
moved and carried, as the only alternative npon 
which unanimity of action could be reached, that 
the Methodist minister should be invited to pro- 
nounce the eulogy. A committee was appointed 
to wait on me, and report my answer at a subse- 
quent meeting. 

In reply to the very courteous request of the 
committee, I told them that I felt as if I ought 
not to consent; that there were several reasons 
why I should not fill that place: — 

General Jackson had been a Democrat, I was a 
AVhig; he had been a Presbyterian, I was a Meth- 
odist; he had been a politician and a soldier, while 
I was a preacher of the Gospel. To this they re- 
plied that I had been the only man they could 
agree upon, and if I refused, there would be no 
eulogy. As this seemed the fact, I then said that 
they might give as my answer, "If it be the unani- 
mous wish of the community — and no one else can 
be found, I will reluctantly consent." The time 
for the eulogy had been fixed for about the tenth 
day in advance. The day after my reply to the 
committee, I was informed that Messrs. McConnell 
and Lambertson, two prominent Democratic law- 
yers of the town, had expressed great dissatisfac- 
tion with the arrangement for the eulogy. I im- 
mediately wrote a note to the committee, stating 
that as I had consented to speak on condition that 
the request was unanimous, and had been in- 
formed that certain prominent gentlemen objected, 
they would please consider my obligation to speak, 



202 RECOLLECTIONS. 

cancelled. This produced quite an excitement, 
and disappointment also. The Whigs poured out 
their vials of wrath on the Democrats, and they in 
turn emptied their indignation on poor McConnell 
and Lambertson. So fast and furious had the ex- 
citement grown, that in less than two hours after 
sending my note to the committee, these two 
gentlemen had taken the shortest and quickest 
route to my house. And in the most direct and 
courteous manner, said to me : — 

"Mr. Hob art, we regret very much having said 
anything on the subject of the eulogy, and take it 
all back. We insist most earnestly that you will 
speak!" The obstacles being thus removed, I 
again consented and commenced the work of pre- 
paration. 

When the appointed day arrived, it was as fair 
and beautiful as the most interested could desire. 
The procession was more than a mile long, and, 
with muffled drums and banners draped, we 
marched to the appointed place. Hundreds came 
from other cities and from the country round, 
until the assemblage numbered several thousands. 
Prayer was offered by Dr. Todd, of the Presby- 
terian church. 

My discourse I cannot give as it was never 
written, but the following points were made 
prominent: 

First — The proof which this occasion furnished 
that the nation was really <me at heart; that al- 
though party strife was now and then fierce and 
bitter, yet below this, there was a unity of senti- 



RECOLLECTIONS. 203 

merit which only needed a proper occasion to call 
it forth, and that this was an encouraging fact in 
our national life. Like the great ocean, the sur- 
face may be lashed into fury and foam, but the 
depths below remained undisturbed. 

Secondly — General Jackson as a man and a 
citizen; a brief biography of his life, from his 
birth in North Carolina, A. D., 1767, until his 
death at the Hermitage, in 1845. 

Thirdly — General Jackson, as a soldier tracing 
his war record, from his refusal to black the boots 
of the British officer in Revolutionary times, to 
the conclusion of the Seminole war, 1817-18. 

Fourthly — General Jackson, as a politician, the 
great central figure of Democratic laudation and of 
Whig hate; arbitrarily removing the deposits from 
the U. S. Bank; and vetoing the charter of that 
bank. His honesty and^sincerity made apparent by 
the fact, that had he signed that charter, his sup- 
port for the presidency would have been almost 
unanimous: while by vetoing it he would and did 
array against himself not only all the monied 
power of the Bank but nearly the entire monied 
interest of the country. Yet, in view of all these 
facts, he vetoed the charter, which had passed 
both houses of congress and then took an appeal 
to the judgment of the people, in suffering him- 
self to run for a second presidential term. That 
election came, and he was triumphantly sustained 
by the popular vote. "And," said the speaker, 
"if the old adage 'Vox populi, vox Dei' be true, 



204 RECOLLECTIONS. 

then his action was approved both by God and 
men." 

Lastly — he was looked upon as a Christian. 
Naturally of a fearless nature, and living in a 
community and in an age where fighting, swearing, 
gambling and duelling were hardly regarded as 
crimes, or as out of harmony with the character of 
a gentleman, he had become notorious in these 
practices, and yet he had always respected Chris- 
tianity and its ministers. "When he had filled 
more positions of honor and trust, than any other 
citizen of the United States ever had, or would 
ever be likely to fill — full of days and of honors — he 
calmly and deliberately gave his last years to the 
service of God. He united with the Presbyterian 
church — than which no more patriotic church has 
existed. 

Among the seA'eral lessons which this act of his 
life furnished, was this one. that it was a perfect 
refutation of the slur, which Infidelity sometimes 
urges against Christianity; namely, that men were 
moved to profess religion by fear. 'Tor," said I, 
"Satan, the father of lies, never dared even to inti- 
mate that General Jackson was moved or awed by 
fear." The eulogy terminated as follows: — 

"And now fellow citizens, I cannot better con- 
clude my remarks than by uttering a sentiment in 
which I am sure we can all unite: Peace to his 
ashes, honor to his memory, and rest to his soul!" 
Of course a vote of thanks was tendered. And a 
copy of the eulogy requested for publication. 



RECOLLECTIONS. 205 

But I could give none as there never was, and 
never will be a copy. 

I felt some solicitude as to how I had succeeded 
in the estimation of the different political ele- 
ments; well knowing that it was a difficult matter 
to say enough to please the admirers of the 
General and not at the same time to offend those 
who were opposed to him. I received many con- 
gratulations on my effort and have never heard an 
adverse criticism; though, doubtless, there might 
have been some. 

About a week afterwards, a friend of mine, who 
was present on the occasion of my speech, called 
on me and stated that a friend of his, but a 
stranger to me, had asked him quite earnestly, 
who that Methodist preacher was, who delivered 
that eulogy on Jackson. Being informed, he 
replied: "Well, I heard Col. Wright at St. Louis, 
and Ed. Baker at Springfield, but I'll be blest if 
that Methodist preacher, didn't beat both of 
them!!" As Col. W. was the best stump speaker 
in Missouri, and Ed. Baker as good as Illinois 
could produce, I was willing of course to let it go 
that way. 

At the close of two most delightful years, I 
bade farewell to my many friends at Jacksonville 
— most of them now on the other shore — and soon 
found myself and family comfortably settled in a 
pleasant parsonage at Springfield, to which station 
I had been appointed by Bishop Morris at the 
conference of 1845. Warmly welcomed and ably 
seconded by my official board, the year's work 



206 EECOLLECTIONS. 

opened encouragingly. Early in the year there 
were indications of a coming shower of blessing. 
In this we were not disappointed. We commenced 
a protracted meeting in December, which con- 
tinued about two weeks and resulted in the con- 
version of forty -five; some having previously 
joined as seekers, and a few uniting with other 
churches. In the same month, I held a three 
days' meeting at Horse creek, at which nine were 
converted, and a good religious influence was 
awakened, which spread through the neighbor- 
hood. 

On Jan. 11, 1846, I was called to preach the 
funeral sermon of a child of Rev. Richard Bird, 
the circuit preacher. I spoke from I. Cor. III., 
21, 23. "Therefore let no man glory in men: for all 
things are yours. Whether Paul, or Apollos, or 
Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things 
present, or things to come; all are yours. And ye 
are Christ's; and Christ is God's." 

The large church was full to overflowing and 
great grace was resting on both preacher and 
people. While speaking of death as "ours," to 
introduce us into the unspeakable glories of life 
eternal, a good Presbyterian sister, who had re- 
cently buried a lovely child, sprang to her feet and 
began to praise and shout in the old Methodist 
style, much to the astonishment of those of her 
own church who were present, and greatly to the 
pious edification of the Methodists, who thought 
it perfectly orthodox and proper. The good 
sister, after her first exclamations of joy and praise, 



RECOLLECTIONS. 207 

with her face all bathed in tears, yet radiant with 
delight, tried to apologize by saying, "I can't help 
it! Oh, brethren, I can't help it! I am so en- 
raptured with the thought of meeting my dear 
ones in Heaven!" 

In the winter of 1845-6, Dr. Elliott, then editor 
of the "Western Christian Advocate," gave us 
some stirring editorials on China as a mission field. 
These roused my soul; and I proposed, through 
that paper, to be one of a hundred to give ten dol- 
lars each to send a missionary to China. This 
sum I forwarded. Several of my own congregation 
also responded, and others from different places. 
This, so far as I know, was the first money con- 
tributed for a China M. E. mission, or for a China 
mission of any protestant denomination in America. 
Little did I then think how wonderously this en- 
terprise was to succeed, or of the glorious spread 
of the work in China; still less, that my youngest 
born, my Willie, would at this time (1885) be the 
Rev. W. T. Hobart, of the "North China Mission," 
living in Peking; with a large Chinese circuit; 
preaching the everlasting Gospel in that strange 
language to Christian Chinamen; and reporting as 
the result of their conference work last year in 
that charge, a hundred baptized and many con- 
verted. And as I think of the small beginnings, 
and the four promising conferences of our own 
church, now in that mighty empire, I bless the 
Lord and look forward to the great triumphal 
shout of the arch-angel when he shall announce 
that the kingdoms of this world have become the 



208 RECOLLECTIONS. 

kingdom of our Lord and His Christ. Ami I am 
devoutly grateful that I was counted worthy to 
have a share in the starting of the China mission; 
and that I have a son whom the Master has counted 
worthy to be called into that promising mission 
field. 

My year in Springfield was a very encouraging 
one. Among the friends avIio there made our social 
life very enjoyable, I recall the names of Judge 
Logan, N. Edwards, Drs. Todd and McNeil, Bro. 
Roberts, the Bros. Matheny, Jno. Condell, Judge 
Mathers, and many others. 

While I was stationed in Springfield, Illinois was 
called upon by the war department to furnish one 
or more regiments for the Mexican war; and these 
were to rendezvous at that city, one company being 
raised there. In this company were several mem- 
bers of our charge, and in it the citizens manifested 
much interest. Soon after the soldiers had left 
for Jefferson barracks, below St. Louis, the ladies 
of the city raised over one hundred dollars with 
which to purchase a flag for our company, and I 
was appointed as their committee not only to select 
the flag but to make the presentation speech in 
their name. This very pleasant duty was per- 
formed. Afterwards a Sabbath was spent at the 
barracks, where I was requested to preach. After 
the sermon, the officers met, and so far as their 
action could determine the matter, I was elected 
chaplain of the regiment. As this had to be con- 
firmed by higher authority, in the great hurry of 
organizing and embarking the army at New Or- 



HECOLLECTIONS. 209 

leans, the matter was overlooked and I heard 
nothing more of it. So near did I come to partici- 
pating in the Mexican war. 

Abraham Lincoln was then as popular, socially, 
in Springfield, as he afterwards became nationally; 
and he, whom the world now honors as the grand 
war president and the great emancipator of the 
slaves of the United States, was then and there 
well known for his genial nature, his natural wit, 
his sterling integrity, his originality, his honesty 
and ability. 

I became impressed, during my stay in Spring- 
field, with the conviction that I ought to 
go further north. After much prayer, I wrote 
to my friend, Rev. Richard Haney, then a 
member of the Rock River conference, saying 
that if at the ensuing Illinois and Rock River 
conferences, (at each of which Bishop Hamline 
was to preside ) it should be thought best by him, I 
would like to transfer to the Rock River conference. 
I wrote this letter four weeks before the time of 
the Rock River conference session; and when I 
received a reply, it was to tell me that I had been 
transferred, and was appointed to "Clarke Street," 
Chicago, then the largest Methodist church in the 
State. This was accompanied by a note from 
Bishop Hamline, saying that I must hasten to my 
appointment, without waiting for the meeting of 
the Illinois conference. This rather aiflicted me, 
for, if I had thought in transferring that there was 
any possibility of my being sent to Chicago, I cer- 
tainly should not have asked to be transferred, 



210 RECOLLECTIONS. 

and now it was too late to alter it. Before getting 
ready for our journey, however, I attended our 
camp-meeting as previously arranged. We had a 
blessed time. On Sabbath afternoon I preached 
on "Justification by Faith;" and at the altar prayer 
meeting, immediately following, twenty-seven were 
converted. 

With considerable effort in getting ready we 
were able to take the stage (then the only way of 
traveling) on the next Friday morning, for Peoria. 
Here we had a delightful re-union with our old 
friends, being entertained at the hospitable home 
of my dear friend, Dr. Frye. On Monday morning 
early we again took the stage for Chicago. We 
traveled continuously until Tuesday evening, when 
arriving very weary and with no little anxiety, we 
were met and warmly welcomed by the brethren. 
We were kindly cared for at the home of Bro. Wm. 
Wheeler, who, with his noble wife, spared no pains 
in making us feel at home, until the parsonage 
could be made ready for our occupancy. 



RECOLLECTIONS. 211 



CHAPTEK XVIII. 

THE first M. E. church of Chicago, since called 
and ever to be known as "Clarke Street, M. E. 
church," was organized, not as "Clarke Street," but 
as the "Methodist Episcopal church of Chicago." 
This was in 1833, and the first quarterly meeting 
for that charge was held in the fall of that year. 

Good men and true had filled the pulpit from 
the first, and among them, the saintly and sainted 
Peter B. Borein of whom I have already written, 
and of whom I might write much more. His 
labors in the church at Chicago will always be re- 
membered by those who knew him, as a benedic- 
tion; and his life as exemplifying the spirit of his 
divine Master. His last sermon was on the vision 
of the dying Stephen. His own departure fol- 
lowed in a few days after. 

I found the membership of "Clarke Street," large; 
and a good deal of earnest, active, religious life. 
Many of the members were from New England 
and New York, and their habits and church 
life, were of a more quiet and less demon- 
strative character, than that which had prevailed 
at the west. The seats were rented. The singing 
was led by a choir; instrumental music being part 



212 RECOLLECTIONS. 

of the regular Sabbath service, This was all new 
to me; and it seemed at first cold, formal and uu- 
homelike. But as these things had been intro- 
duced and borne by my predecessor, Rev. W. M. 
D. Ryan, and the majority of the membership 
favored them, I thought that I would do the best 
I could and not disturb these forms of church 
service, though distasteful to me, personally. 

I soon found my place a most difficult one to 
fill. The presiding elder, James Mitchell, who 
was now in his second year as elder, had deter- 
mined that the instrumental music and the renting 
of the pews should be broken up. He therefore 
informed me that my official board, (a band of 
noble men) were disloyal to Methodist discipline 
and to Methodist usage; that they were willful, 
and were determined to rule or ruin the church; 
and, what was in his eyes still worse, that they 
were constantly in the habit of slandering and 
traducing the presiding elder. He also instructed 
me that I must fight them; "fight like a bull-dog" 
were his words. Must resist them and their views ; 
in fact, that I must follow his wishes and pay no 
attention to those of my official board. 

To me, who had known only reverence and love 
for my presiding elders, heretofore, and who had 
enjoyed uninterrupted harmony with my brethren, 
both in the official boards and out of them, all my 
life so far, this was a horrid condition of things. 
And to be placed in its midst, distressing and tor- 
turing beyond expression. Just as soon as I 
fairly saw the state of discordance between the 



RECOLLECTIONS. 213 

presiding elder and the church, I begged him to 
change me, and send me to some other place. But 
this he would not do. So that I was reduced to 
the alternative of leaving the work to which I had 
been appointed, vacating on my own responsibility ; 
or of remaining and relying on the grace of God, 
to be faithful to duty and do the best I could, 
under these trying circumstances. The last I de- 
cided to do. And I went through the year, bear- 
ing a burden, which seemed sometimes as if it 
would crush me; steadilv attending to the work of 
a Methodist preacher, and the building up of the 
church of God. Notwithstanding all these diffi- 
culties, God gave us a good year in "Clarke Street.'" 
We had an excellent revival and a time of refresh- 
ing from our God during the winter. Between 
forty and fifty were converted, and many added to 
the church. And a number, who were members of 
the church, entered into the blessed assurance of 
perfect love ; many others also in the church; who 
had once enjoyed the blessing, were able to regain 
the consciousness of a clean heart. 

During this revival I experienced a difficulty not 
unfrequently met with; that is, a large audience 
remaining to look on at the altar services to the 
great embarrassment of the penitent and the seek- 
ers. To overcome this, on one evening after a 
hard struggle with this element of inaction and 
hindrance, I appointed a meeting, for eight o'clock 
the next morning, in the parlor of the parsonage. 
And I emphatically stated that those only were 
invited who were earnestly seeking the Savior, 



214 RECOLLECTIONS. 

and those who were willing to unite with such in 
earnest prayer. At the appointed time there were 
about forty present, ten of whom were seekers. 

It was a season of unusual solemnity. God's 
power was wonderfully felt and in about thirty 
minutes eight were converted; and we had a 
blessed time of praise and thanksgiving and re- 
joicing before our God. Brother Clarke, one of 
our class leaders, noted for his calm, quiet, re- 
ligious life, jumped to his feet, and began to rush 
up and down the room, exclaiming: — 

"Brother Hobart! Brother Hobart!! What is the 
matter with me? What is the matter with me?" 

At the close of our meeting, when we came to 
sum up the results of that mighty baptism, the 
record of which will not be forgotten in this world 
or in the next, we found that every seeker had 
been converted, and more than twelve were rejoic- 
ing in the blessing of a clean heart. 

A singular circumstance occurred in connection 
with my pastoral work while in Chicago. I found 

on the church record the name of a Miss M , a 

probationer who had been converted during the 
preceding summer, and who was a member of Bro. 
Shaw's class. I learned from her class leader that 
up to a short time before my coming, she had been 
very regular in her attendance on the means of 
grace. But after making diligent inquiry from her 
leader and others, I could not find her, and con- 
cluded that she had left the city. In the spring, 
however, she returned and reported herself to her 
class leader and to the preacher; having, while 



RECOLLECTIONS. 215 

absent, been engaged at work in the country; and 
had, during the time, attended a Methodist church 
near by, and was in joyful fellowship with the 
Lord. Soon after her return, she was married, and 
in a few months after taken seriously ill with 
pleurisy. Medical skill was of no avail to arrest 
the disease, and after lingering for a short time 
she died. In about thirty hours after her apparent 
death, preparations having been made for placing 
her in the coffin, she awoke, or returned to con- 
sciousness and life, happy beyond description. 
Almost the first words spoken by her were, that 
she had only a few hours to stay. Soon after she 
went on to say to the many friends who were 
present ( and among whom were her class leader, 
and Sisters Wheeler and Whitehead, besides other 
reliable Christians ) that when she died she was 
accompanied by an escort of angels into the im- 
mediate presence of her Savior, who welcomed her 
to Heaven; that she saw many there whom she 
knew and who knew her; that she asked, amid her 
great joy, permission to return to earth to bid her 
friends farewell, and then to come back im- 
mediately. When asked how Heaven looked, she 
replied : — 

"I have no words that can describe it. Nothing 
I have ever seen or thought of, could be compared 
with it!" 

When asked if she did not wish to stay here, 
with her husband and her friends, she answered: — 

"Oh, no! no! no! Heaven is too glorious! None 



216 RECOLLECTIONS. 

who had been there would think, for a moment, 
of remaining here." 

To Bro. Shaw, her class leader, when he entered 
the room, she said: — 

"Bro. Shaw, I saw your wife in Heaven; she 
gave me this message to you." And she gave him 
the message. 

A singular thing about this was that she had 
never met Sister Shaw here, that lady having died 
a year or so before. She remained about twelve 
hours, without any apparent suffering; every 
breath, almost, being one of praise and rejoicing. 
She then bade her friends farewell and in an ex- 
tacy of praise and holy triumph, passed away. 
This was told me by several who were present, 
when I came back to the house where she lay, 
having been called out of the city, and returning 
but a few moments after her triumphant departure. 
Her funeral was largely attended and I buried her 
in the city cemetery. 

In the summer of 1847, the first "National River 
and Harbor Convention" was held in Chicago, at 
that time a city of about twenty-eight thousand. 
A large pavilion was erected on the public square, 
where the court house now stands. This build- 
ing, which was designed to seat between twenty 
and thirty thousand, was finished on Saturday, and 
the convention was to meet on Monday. 

As we were going though the immense struc- 
ture, I remarked to some of the gentlemen, that 
as there were so many strangers in the city, the 
pavilion ought to be utilized by having preaching 



EECOLLECTIONS. 217 

there the next day (Sunday). Bro. Orrington 
Lunt at once turned to me and said: "Will you 
preach here to-morrow?" 

"Why, yes," I replied. "I will, if there is no 
other one to do it." 

Bro. Lunt immediately sent out announcements 
through the papers, that Rev. C. Hobart would 
preach on Sunday at the pavilion, at 10:30 A. M. 

The hour came, beautiful and bright, and with 
it to the pavilion, some thirty thousand people. 
The chorister of the M. E. church had collected a 
large number of excellent singers, who made a fine 
appearance and rendered good service on the occa- 
sion. After the reading of the Scriptures and 
prayer and the singing of that grand old hymn: 
"Before Jehovah's awful throne," 

with wonderful power and effect by the choir and 
the audience, I took for my text Isaiah I., 2-3: 
"Hear, O Heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the 
Lord hath spoken; I have nourished and brought 
up children, and they have rebelled against me. 
The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's 
crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not 
consider." 

I endeavored to impress the following thoughts : 
First — "Children nourished and brought up" — 
drawing the analogy between Israel and America: 
Each oppressed in foreign lands — Each led out by 
the Almighty — Heathen cast out before them — 
Each given a goodly land — And each favored with 
privileges enjoyed by none others. 

15 



218 RECOLLECTIONS. 

Secondly — These cherished children "rebelled:" 
By forgetting God — By giving their affections to 
other things — By breaking God's law: the law of 
the Sabbath, the law of veracity, the law forbidding 
profanity, the law forbidding the oppression of 
persons and nations. 

Thirdly — Characteristics of this rebellion: Un- 
necessary — Uncalled — Ungrateful — Absurd and 
ruinous. 

The Master gave me unusual liberty and I was 
enabled to declare the whole counsel of God. I 
want to record that on this occasion I was lifted 
far above myself. I was conscious only of being 
an ambassador from God to that immense audience 
of responsible humanity. There was a wonderful 
stillness and attention on the part of that great 
assemblage, so much so that so far as is known, 
not an individual left his seat until the services 
were concluded. Many kind things were after- 
wards said to the preacher by appreciative friends 
on the effort made. f But of them all, one, repeated 
by a number, abides with me and is a source of 
pleasure as to the result. It was this, that the 
next day, all through the excitement of that great 
convention, "not an oath was heard, neither in the 
pavilion nor on the streets." 

At the temporary organization of Monday morn- 
ing, an elderly gentleman from Bhode Island, 

Prof. , mentioned to some of the gentlemen 

present that if desired he would open with prayer. 
And he was requested to do so. When, coming to 
the platform, he read a prayer, which had been 



RECOLLECTIONS. 219 

previously written. At the conclusion of this he 
remarked that if there were no objection he would 
address the assembly. Permission being granted, 
he spoke ; but not upon the great national interests 
which had called the convention together, but up- 
on Rhode Island and the glories of New England 
and the "Pooritans." Sectional glorification, just 
at that time, was what all men of sense wanted 
kept in abeyance; but on went the speaker, claim- 
ing that almost everything of worth in the nation 
had originated with the "Pooritans." At the con- 
clusion of this harangue, there was a general feel- 
ing of mortification and disgust, and it seemed 
evident that something must be done to turn the 
tide of thought in a happier channel. At that 
moment some one fortunately called out: — 

"Tom Corwin!" 

Governor Corwin, of Ohio, who led the delega- 
tion from that State, was then in his very prime, 
and who the best stump speaker in America. On 
hearing this call for his appearance, he had 
crouched down as low as possible as if he would 
hide himself from observation. But vain were his 
efforts to conceal himself. Loud cries and calls 
from all over the house, and from hundreds of 
throats of: — 

"Corwin! Gov. Corwin! Tom Corwin! Cor- 
win!!" Until at last Harry O'Sheldon and an- 
other gentleman, a delegate from Ohio, saw him 
and picking him up, carried him in their arms to 
the platform. 

After the storm of applause, which greeted his 



220 RECOLLECTIONS. 

appearance, had somewhat subsided, Corwin bow- 
ing gracefully to the audience said: — 

"Gentlemen, I came to this convention with the 
determination not to speak; but under the circum- 
stances, in which I find myself, I think I may be 
excused, if I change my purpose a little. 

"What our friend Prof. — has just said of the 
enterprise and push of New England's sons and 
daughters, I most cordially assent to. Indeed, all 
that has been said and much more that might be 
told, is true of the Puritan New Englander. How 
this great nation could ever have supplied itself 
with pins and needles, with screws and gimlets, 
with patent churns and patent tack hammers, with 
"school inarms" and millwrights, with warming pans 
for winter and ice cream freezers for summer, and 
with ten thousand other things that minister to 
our comfort and convenience, to say nothing about 
wooden nutmegs and white oak cheeses, basswood 
hams and stone coal indigo, without him — is 
more than I can tell. All honor to New England, 
and the descendants of the Puritans! And still, 
from the very best information that I can get, it is 
my honest opinion, that there are several other 
states in this great Republic beside the six New 
England states. If the gentleman had extended 
his travels to the west side of the Mississippi, as I 
have done, he would have found there large 
numbers of immigrants from the old drab 
state, with their broad brimmed hats and thrifty 
ways, making the country bloom like a garden; 
while New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, 



EECOLLECTI 221 

the Carolinas and every State, north and south, 
have contributed of their greatness to the pros- 
perity of the West. And really, if I were to be put 
upon the stand and under oath, I think that I 
could both swear and prove that there is such a 
state in this Union as Ohio! And not only that 
there is such a state, but that it now contains 
nearly two millions of inhabitants ! ! And that this 
is not only known to be true in this country, but 
there are foreigners, who are aware of this fact. 
Of this I was amusingly convinced recently: — 

"In traveling by stage, from Albany to Buffalo, not 
long since, we happened to have in our company a 
diplomat from some little ten-acre principality of 
Germany, who was loud and persistent in his 
abuse of Americans. I endured this for a while 
and then in order to ascertain what the difficulty 
was. said to bim: — 

"What is the matter, my friend, with the Ameri- 
cans '? Don't they pay their debt- '.-' 

'Oh. yes!' 

'Don't they tell the truth?' 

•Yes. yes: they tell the truth!' 

'Haven't they used you politely'.-' 

'Oh, yes: they have treated me well enough.' 

AY ell then, if they pay their debts, speak the 
truth, and have done you no harm, why do you 
abuse them so? TThat is the matt- 

'Matter! matter!' said the little German, 'mat- 
ter!! Vy de knows not to how to dalk! Dey 
knows not any things. !' ■ 

•Can't talk!' I exclaimed, surprised at such an 



222 KECOLLECTIONS. 

accusation, 'Don't they speak the English lan- 
guage?' 

'No! no!' he replied scornfully, 'dey cannot to 
speak de English language.' 

'Well,' said I, considerably amused, 'what do 
they speak?' 

'Vy,' replied he, drawing himself up, 'dey speaks 
some kind — of a — patois — I believes dey calls it — 
OhioP " 

Amid a roar of laughter, and another low bow, 
Mr. Corwin said smilingly: — 

"So you see, gentlemen, Ohio is known across 
the sea." 

After the cheering incident upon this happy 
hit had subsided, Horace Greely, who had been 
seated on the platform, was called for. Horace, 
seemed rather reluctant to come forward, but as 
the call for him grew louder and more persistent, 
he rose, and walked slowly to the front, with his 
drab coat, his genial face, massive head and long 
strait hair, and extending his hand towards the 
chairman he remarked in his own drawling way : — 

"Mr. President! I — had — thought — by — this — 
time— that — my — reputation — as — a — poor — speak- 
er — had — become — universal. But — I — perceive 
— it — is — only — local." 

He then went on for about ten minutes with a 
most excellent and appropriate train of thought, 
which was terminated by the appearance of the 
committee on permanent organization. 

The Eock Kiver conference met this year at 
"Clarke Street." Bishop Waugh, whom we had the 



RECOLLECTIONS. 223 

honor of entertaining at the parsonage, presided. 
A paper was presented to the bishop, soon after the 
assembling of the conference, signed by the mem- 
bers of the official board of Clarke Street church, 
and many others, requesting the removal of James 
Mitchell as presiding elder from the district, and 
giving their reasons for the same. One of these 
was, that he had tried to prejudice their preacher 
against the church. This, with the rest, he de- 
nied and demanded proof. In this demand he was 
quickly accommodated; and the brethren pro- 
ceeded immediately to put their complaints in the 
form of charges; and the case took at once the 
form of a trial. 

When the passing of my character came up, 
early in the session, Bro. Mitchell delayed it, say- 
ing, "We will pass that case!" Then he came to 
me an hour or so afterward and said, "If you dare 
to appear as a witness against me I will ruin you." 

To this threat I replied calmly, "You may be 
able to do so; but I doubt it very much. Yet, if 
I am called on to testify, I shall state every fact 
that I know of, that is pertinent to the case, if 
it costs me my life." 

The trial went on and I gave my testimony. 
Mitchell was found guilty as charged, and the 
penalty was that he be reproved by the bishop in 
open conference. This duty the bishop faithfully 
performed, and administered such a reproof as 
but few Methodist preachers have ever received, 
and which will never be forgotten by those who 
heard it. This action vindicated me satisfactorily, 



224 RECOLLECTIONS. 

as well as the church, and fastened the blame of 
the strife and discord on the presiding elder, where 
it justly belonged. 

There are two things which I wish to say in 
reviewing this transaction. One is, no man who 
was in that exciting conflict can give a full and fair 
statement of the whole case. The feeling was so 
intense that any such statement must necessarily 
be exparte. And, after the most streuuous 
efforts on the part of the presiding elder to impli- 
cate me in wrong doing, he was obliged at last to 
say, "Nothing against Bro. Hobart." 



RECOLLECTIONS. 225 



CHAPTEK XIX. 

WAS this year appointed presiding elder of 
-*- Eacine district, which field of labor included 
the southeast portion of Wisconsin, extending from 
Lake Michigan to Sugar river, thirty miles west of 
Rock river. There were twelve charges to which I 
added a thirteenth during the first quarter. 

We were soon settled, not a Sunday having been 
lost, and with a glad heart and like a bird escaped 
from a cage or a snare, I took hold of my work. 
Before I had completed my first round I felt and 
saw that the spirit of revival was abroad, and that 
a great harvest of souls was soon to be gathered. 

At Janesville, I remember, we had a very de- 
lightful quarterly meeting. There were among 
the leading spirits on that charge, Bros. Sutherland 
and Winn, who, with their families, lived in town ; 
and Bros. Wheeler and Willard, who resided a 
short distance in the country. Bro. Willard was 
a remarkably noble and capable man, and was held 
in the highest estimation for his loyalty and 
Christian integrity. His family, consisting of 
wife, son Oliver, and two little daughters, Mary 
and Frances E., were members of the Sabbath 
school, and these children were unusally bright and 



226 RECOLLECTIONS. 

attractive. I well remember that little Miss Frank, 
then about eight years old, was an intelligent 
and lovely child. And how well has the promise 
of her girlhood been realized in the gifted and 
world-renowned philanthropist and temperance 
orator, Miss Frances E. Willard, president of the 
"Woman's National Christian Temperance Union." 
This elect and honored lady is at this time leading 
the hosts of the Christian women of our own and 
other lands, in one of the most significant move- 
ments which has blessed this or any other age. One 
of the adjuncts of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus 
Christ; itself the proclamation of the Gospel under 
the white banner of temperance, urging that the 
home should be protected from the dram shop, 
"For God and home and native land." 

At our quarterly meeting this year many were 
converted, while the interest manifested gave us 
crowded houses, and the preachers, with one ex- 
ception, took hold of the work in earnestness and 
in sympathy with me and with each other. We 
had a good year; the record being, so far as 
human entries could tell of the results of that 
twelve months of faithful preaching and labor, one 
thousand converted and added to the church. 

Early in the year Bro. Whitman, preacher in 
charge on Bigfoot circuit, had died at his post, 
having fought a good fight, and of those "having 
obtained a good report." 

I held a camp-meeting for the central part of 
the district, a few miles west of Bigfoot prairie, 
the first week in June, and at this meeting many 



KECOLLECTIONS. 227 

were converted. One case which deserves special 
mention, occurs to me: 

Having preached on Sunday morning as faith- 
fully as I could, showing the utter hopelessness of 
the impenitent sinner, and the richness, fullness 
and freeness of God's mercy to the contrite peni- 
tent, I went on, as usual, to my next point. On 
my subsequent visit to this neighborhood, a man 
was presented to me, by the preacher in charge, 
for baptism; and this man informed me, with the 
joy of a new-born soul, that under the preaching of 
the sermon referred to on that Sunday morning at 
Bigfoot camp-meeting, he had been convicted and 
converted. And he then came to me to be bap- 
tized, having at once united with the church. I 
knew of him for many years after, and he con- 
tinued a faithful, active Christian. 

At the general conference of 1848, held at Pitts- 
burgh, the Rock River conference was divided, and 
the Wisconsin conference was formed. The latter, 
including the State of Wisconsin and our mission 
work on the upper Mississippi (now Minnesota). 
It was divided into four districts. 

Plattville — Henry Summers, presiding elder. 

Fond du Lac— W. H. Sampson, presiding elder. 

Milwaukee — Elihu Springer, presiding elder. 

Racine — Chauncey Hobart, presiding elder. 

The first meeting of our new conference was at 
Southport, (Kenosha) the last of June, 1848; 
Bishop Morris, presiding; Wm. H. Sampson, sec- 
retary. 

Nothing occurred to mar our harmony, except- 



228 RECOLLECTIONS. 

ing that a bill of charges was presented by the 
brethren from Janesville against Bev. J. Luccock. 
As the parties were not prepared for trial the 
brother received an appointment; and the case was 
referred for trial to the presiding elder of the Ra- 
cine district. In due time, perhaps in Septem- 
ber, the charges were investigated. He was found 
guilty and suspended until conference met. 

When this case came up for trial the next year, 
the conference found him guilty of falsehood. 
But when he was about to be expelled, on motion 
of Elihu Springer, the vote was reconsidered by 
which he was found guilty, and it was voted as the 
sense of the conference, "that although he had 
spoken the words as charged, yet there were some 
doubts as to whether he intended to speak falsely, 
and therefore he should have the benefit of the 
doubt and his character pass." 

The reports from the preachers brought good 
news of increase and of conversions ; but very sorry 
ones of money raised for their support dur- 
ing the year. The appropriation for that year for 
the support of the presiding elder, who had to 
keep a horse, rent a house, buy wood, etc., was four 
hundred and fifteen dollars. This was not nearly 
all raised; but I made no complaint. We had 
managed to live, and that was about all we had 
expected to do. 

In my second year on the district four new 
charges were added; and Bigfoot was taken into 
the Bock Biver conference at the time of the divi- 
sion. On one of these charges was Indian Ford, 



RECOLLECTIONS. 229 

which was a village of two hundred; and a preach- 
ing place on the Rock Prairie ^charge with J. M. 
Walker, preacher. Here we had a small class 
which was the only religious organization in the 
place. 

A few miles west of this little town was another 
village, Catfish, of about the same age and 
size; each of these towns contained excellent mill 
privileges. And there was quite a rivalry between 
them. In order to attract settlers and build up 
their town, the Catfish people employed a Univer- 
salist preacher named Mr W , to come and re- 
side among them and preach every Sabbath. 
While Indian Ford could only afford to have a 
Methodist preacher come and preach for them 
once in two weeks. But through the faithfulness 
and ability of their preacher, Bro. Walker, during 
the winter of 48-49, nearly the entire population of 
the town of Indian Ford was converted. This 
event completely revolutionized the character of 
the place. Immigrants came pouring in; business 
became brisk; a church edifice was erected, a good 
school was established, and the population more 
than doubled. 

That this prosperity was the result of the great 
revival, could not escape the notice of the Catfish 
people. After discussing the matter among them- 
selves for some time, a committee was appointed by 
them to wait on the presiding elder and request 
him to send them, if possible, a "Gospel" minister. 
This committee informed me that a Methodist was 
their first choice; but that if I could not supply 



230 RECOLLECTIONS. 

them, their instructions were to apply to the Pres- 
byterians and if unsuccessful there, then to try 
what the Baptists or Congregationalists could do for 
them. At all events they must secure the services 
of a "Gospel" minister for Catfish. I arranged as 
soon as possible that this town should become a 
part of the "Union Circuit," and have preaching 
regularly by the circuit preacher, which arrange- 
ment pleased them well. 

This year on the Eacine district was one of very 
decided prosperity in every way; both spiritually 
and financially there was a marked advance on the 
previous year. And there were again in this 
second year more than one thousand reported con- 
verted and added to the church. 

On the thirteenth of November of this year 
1848, we were gladdened by the birth of a little 
daughter, whom we named Mary Eliza. This 
dear child has been spared to us and is now the 
wife of Dr. Charles Simpson, of Minneapolis, 
Minn., to whom she was married Sept. 11, 1872. 

Our Wisconsin conference met in 1849 at Platts- 
ville; Bishop Janes, presiding. 

Bishop Janes had never before been in the 
Northwest, and the brethren were no little in doubt 
at first, as to how an eastern man would affiliate 
with western needs and modes of thought. But it 
was all right. He won all our hearts by his open- 
ing prayer, and none of our bishops have since 
been more welcome in the West and Northwest than 
he. And there have been none whose death has 



RECOLLECTIONS. 231 

been more lamented, nor whose record is clearer 
as a saint, a scholar, a wise administrator, a Chris- 
tian gentleman, and royal preacher. 

Not long after we met, the bishop told us in the 
cabinet, that some one must go up to the new 
Territory of Minnesota, as stationed preacher at 
St. Paul, and presiding elder of the work in that 
upper country. He inquired very earnestly of us 
as to who would be a proper person to send. 
Several names were given and by the bishop's 
direction these were spoken to on the subject. 
But none were found willing to go — some even 
begging, with tears, not to be sent, the distance and 
difficulties being so great. This backwardness 
stirred my soul to its depths; and after thinking 
the matter over with much prayer, for a day or 
two, I told the bishop that I would volunteer 
for the work if he saw fit to send me. The fol- 
lowing day in the cabinet he asked me, if I was 
really in earnest in volunteering to go and take 
charge of the work in Minnesota. 

Assuring him that I was, that I felt I ought to 
be willing to do, myself, what I had proposed to 
others to do, and that I was convinced that that 
upper country offered a fine field in which a man 
could do good work for God and the Methodist 
church. To which he said, "All this being so you 
may consider it settled that you are to go to Min- 
nesota, and arrange accordingly." After an un- 
usually long session we adjourned, and among the 
appointments were: Minnesota district, C. Hobart; 



232 RECOLLECTIONS. 

St. Paul, C. Hobart; St. Anthony, Enos Stevens; 
Stillwater, J. Harrington; Round Prairie, Jessie 
Pardun; Black River, R. R. Wood; Chippewa to 
be supplied. 



RECOLLECTIONS. 233 



CHAPTEK XX. 

-[©ETUBNING to Bacine, I found my good wife 
-L V more than willing to undertake the long 
journey and to break up the associations of her 
life. We packed our goods, hired teams to take 
us to the Mississippi, and, with our two little ones, 
were on our way to Galena, 111., by the 20th of 
July. Bro. Stephens joined us on the way. 

On our arrival at Lafayette, we learned that the 
cholera was raging at Galena; so we took another 
road and struck the Mississippi at Cassville. 

On Monday we went on board the good steam- 
boat, "Senator;" captain, Orrin Smith, and were on 
our way for St. Paul, where we arrived on the last 
day of July, 1849, about 9 o'clock in the evening. 
A noisy crowd was awaiting the boat; and the suc- 
cessful candidates for legislative honors, and their 
adherents, were making themselves noisily merry 
at a saloon on the landing. The first election for 
the territory having been held that day. We 
were met and cordially welcomed by Kev. B. F. 
Hoyt, a local preacher, who had been in St. Paul 
a little over a year, and who took us to his home. 
Here we remained until I could procure a house, 
which I did in about ten days. 

16 



234 RECOLLECTIONS. 

St. Paul had been known as "Pig's Eye," and as 
an Indian trading post, for several years. At this 
point the Roman Catholics had built a little log 
chapel of tamarac poles, and called it "St. Paul's," 
to distinguish it from a similar structure at Men- 
dota, which was named "St Peter's." This mud- 
daubed log chapel gave name to the village, which 
had been platted about two years, and now con- 
tained some four hundred inhabitants. 

This was the beginning of our beautiful capital 
city, St Paul. I found here a Methodist class of 
twenty members, organized by my predecessor, 
Rev. B. F. Close. A brick church had been com- 
menced on a lot, donated by Messrs. Rice and 
Irving, on Market street; the walls of the church 
were between two and three feet high. 

A new hotel, the "Central," was just being fitted 
up for the accommodation of the legislature, 
which was to meet on the 3d of September. In 
the parlor of this hotel, located on Bench street, 
(now Second) I was permitted to preach. I com- 
menced at once superintending the building of the 
church, and the erection of a dwelling for my 
family, as there was not a house to rent. During 
the month of August I also preached at St. Anthony 
Falls, Stillwater and Red Rock. 

The legislature met on the third of September; 
and the senate organized by electing D. Olmsted 
president of the council; J. R. Brown, secretary; 
H. A. Lambert, assistant; C. W. Boutwell, chap- 
lain. And the house was organized by electing J. 



RECOLLECTIONS. 235 

W. Furbur, speaker; W. D. Philips, clerk; L. B. 
Wait, assistant, and C. Hobart, chaplain. 

The duties of this new office did not interfere 
with my many other engagements, as I had simply 
to be on hand each morning to open the session 
with prayer. This pleasant duty was performed 
until about the 20th of September^ when, by vote 
of the house, I was permitted to nil my place, 
while absent for a time in Illinois, and to attend 
the session of the Illinois conference, soliciting 
assistance to complete our little brick church. 
During my absence, Rev. Mr. Neal kindly officiated 
for me. 

My family and myself having been absent from 
Illinois for about three years, we had concluded 
that as Quincy, the seat of the Illinois conference, 
was but a few miles from our former home in 
Rushville, we would take the* children and visit 
it and our friends. At Quincy we were most 
kindly entertained during the session of the con- 
ference, at the home of our dear old friend, "Mother 
Murphy," as we loved to call her. And our visit 
with the preachers and brethren — many of them 
the tried and true friends of my life — was a great 
pleasure. 

There were in the Illinois conference in those 
days, some of the grandest men it has been my 
fortune to meet or know anywhere; men of God, 
whole-souled, candid, true; who did not know how 
to be self-seeking nor mean. They were also men 
of faith and of the Holy Ghost. 

We spent a few days at Rushville, also, and hav- 



236 RECOLLECTIONS. 

ing enjoyed both the trip and the rest, returned to 
St. Paul after an absence of four weeks, when I 
resumed my place as chaplain of the house. 

With what help I had obtained while absent, 
and what the members and Mends in St. Paul 
could do, we enclosed our church and put on one 
coat of plastering overhead, and with the help 
of a large stove we occupied it as a place of wor- 
ship during the winter. 

The population of the town was very rapidly 
increasing; and to meet the necessity of another 
school — there being but one, and that one held in 
a small bark covered house— our church was en- 
gaged for a school and myself as the teacher. So 
that to the other honors with which my pathway 
has been strewn, is this also of being the first male 
teacher in the Territory of Minnesota. Mrs. H. E. 
Bishop, since deceased, was the first lady teacher. 
She taught the half-breed children in the little 
bark house referred to. 

During the winter of 1849-50, I held the regular 
quarterly meetings on the St. Anthony, St. Paul 
and Stillwater charges, and, with the help of the 
brethren, kept up preaching regularly in my own 
charge also. About this time we had a little 
revival; a few were converted and several back- 
sliders reclaimed. 

On the Stillwater charge, Bro. Harrington had 
a very encouraging work. About thirty were re- 
claimed and converted, and a good class formed, 
all of whom were converts but one. On my own 
charge, St. Paul, the work had also been pros- 



RECOLLECTIONS. 237 

perous, and the year closed with thirty-seven in 
church fellowship, of whom twelve were proba- 
tioners. 

Bishop Hamline presided at our annual confer- 
ence, which was held in Beloit, Wis., the next 
year. The bishop was feeble, so that the presiding 
elders had to take charge while the bishop lay on 
a sofa and only officiated when it was necessary. 
At this conference the Minnesota district was 
enlarged so as to include all of Minnesota and that 
part of Wisconsin lying west of the Wisconsin 
river, up to the mouth of Dell creek, where Kil- 
burn City now stands. This vast territory was 
divided into ten charges, extending from Fort Kip- 
ley to Prairie du Chien, and from Portage, on 
Wisconsin river, to as far west as the settlements 
extended in Minnesota. 

From the conference I started almost immediate- 
ly for my quarterly meeting at Prairie du Chien; 
then to Sauk Prairie; then to Baraboo, and Black 
River Falls, making a trip of five weeks. The 
journey to Prairie du Chien I found always a 
pleasant one, as I traveled on the steamer 
"Nominee," with my old friend Captain O. Smith. 

The first quarterly meeting held at Prairie du 
Chien was on July 20, 1850; from thence I went 
one hundred miles up the Wisconsin river to Sauk 
Prairie, on a small steamboat, the river being 
then very low. On going on board the steamer, 
I found some fifty lumbermen who were returning 
to the Wisconsin pineries, after having taken their 
rafts down to Dubuque and below. These men 



238 RECOLLECTIONS. 

were just beginning to sober np a little from a ter- 
rible drunken debauch, several of them being still 
drunk, three having been attacked with cholera. 
Two of these cases yielded to the doses of medicine 
administered by the captain; all steamboat cap- 
tains in those days being provided "with a medicine 
chest. The third, whom the men called "Dave," 
grew rapidly worse, until it was evident that, un- 
less speedily helped, he must die. But some four 
or five of his comrades would not hear of this, and 
declared with many an oath, ihat he should not die. 
Acting on their own responsibility, they ordered 
the steward to bring them a tub of hot water; then 
they stripped Dave entirely naked, and four of 
them taking each a towel commenced rubbing him 
with it and the hot water, with might and main. 
Poor Dave begged, groaned and swore, but all in 
vain; on they rubbed, nobody being desired or 
allowed to interfere. On they rubbed, rubbed, for 
about two hours, when, almost skinless, Dave be- 
gan to show decided symptoms of being better; 
and by the time the boat reached Sauk Prairie, 
Dave was convalescent; but the poor fellow was 
unable to move, from, his merciful or unmerciful 
scrubbing. 

From Sauk Prairie, after holding the quarterly 
meeting, Bro. Bunce conveyed me over the high 
ridge, almost a mountain, to Baraboo. Here I 
found my old friend, James Maxwell, one of 
Nature's noblemen, whom I had known on Bigfoot 
prairie some years before. To their home and 



BECOLLECTIONS. 239 

hospitalities I was kindly welcomed by hie wife 
and five promising children. 

Our society here was strong in numbers, wealth, 
piety and intelligence, and after a delightful quar- 
terly meeting 1 saw that the prospect for enlarge- 
ment was most encouraging. 

My next appointment, a camp-meeting, was at 
Round Prairie (Viroqua), about one hundred miles 
west from Baraboo. How to reach this place was 
a question. The only traveled road would take me 
back across the Wisconsin to the Blue Mounds, 
then the old military road to Prairie du Chien; 
thence forty miles up the lumberman's road to 
Round Prairie, in all a distance of two hundred 
miles. Another route was up the Baraboo river 
to Reedsburg; thence by a newly blazed road, 
untraveled as yet, until the lumberman's road was 
reached; then south to Round Prairie. The dis- 
tance by this latter route would be about one hun- 
dred and forty miles. A third way was to strike 
directly through the wilderness, without road, trail, 
guide or house; the supposed distance being about 
eighty miles. 

After consultation and an examination of the 
map, I preferred to take the last named route, pro- 
vided I could get two men to go through with me. 
This I proposed to some of the friends, and as 
there was just enough of adventure and novelty 
about such an undertaking to make it attractive, 
there were six who volunteered to go: Rev. James 
Waddell, a local preacher; James B. Avery, Esq., 



240 RECOLLECTIONS. 

Charles A. Clarke, Warren Brown, Frances Winer 
and Leonard Foster. 

The camp-meeting was to begin on Friday, and 
on the Tuesday preceding we started, Bro. Max- 
well taking us about ten miles in his wagon. Then 
we plunged into the wilderness, which we knew to 
be a vast, dense, unbroken forest, for the 
next one hundred miles, with nothing to guide us 
but the sun, the stars and a pocket compass. We 
provided ourselves with food for three and a half 
days; with four blankets, a small coffee pot, two 
tin cups, a hand ax, a rifle and a pair of saddle- 
bags; and these, in carrying, we divided equally 
among us. On Tuesday night, after having trav- 
eled about fifteen miles, we camped in a deep 
ravine, in a choke-cherry thicket, just deserted by 
a company of bears, which we had evidently scared 
from feasting on the cherries. 

The next day, Wednesday, we traveled over a 
rough country, many of the hills being more than 
four hundred feet high. About noon we found 
shelter in a friendly cave, while a severe thunder- 
storm passed by. We camped that night in a deep 
ravine, and were thoroughly drenched about mid- 
night, being then driven out of our bed of ferns, 
in which we had been sleeping, to find shelter be- 
hind the large trees around us. 

About day break the storm passed and we soon 
had a rousing fire, dried our clothes, ate our break- 
fast, offered up our morning prayer, and pursued 
our journey. That day. Thursday, we followed 
down the ravine, in which we had camped, for 



KECOLLECTIONS. 241 

about twelve miles and at eleven o'clock we came 
to Pine river. Seeing sawdust in the stream, we 
concluded there must be a saw mill near, and fol- 
lowing up the river, soon found Hazelton's mill, 
some forty miles from the nearest settlement. 
Here we dined, and after obtaining some supplies, 
traveled on, until sundown, when we camped on 
the broad ridge between Pine river and the Kicka- 
poo. 

Friday we journeyed on, all day, and camped at 
night in the Kickapoo bottom. That night we sup- 
ped on slippery elm bark and basswood buds, hav- 
ing then less than a cubic inch of pork, per man, 
left for our breakfast. We committed ourselves 
to the care of our Heavenly Father, and slept 
soundly. 

Saturday morning we ate our small piece of meat 
for breakfast, had our worship as a family, and 
journeyed on. We soon came to the Kickapoo, 
which we crossed as Adam and Eve may be sup- 
posed to have crossed the Hiddekel, excepting 
only that we managed to get our clothes tied up in 
bundles and flung them on the further bank. 
Then crossing the bottom we climbed up a very 
steep hill, and almost immediately climbed down 
again; and found, not long after, a broad trail or 
w agon road. This we gladly followed, supposing 
that it would lead us to the settlement. However, 
after traveling it, about ten miles, we found that 
it was leading us out of our course and we turned 
away from it, about due west. 

Journeying on, somewhat wearily down a valley 



242 RECOLLECTIONS. 

— all having fallen a little behind Bro. Waddell 
and myself; — about 2 o'clock P. M., I discovered a 
porcupine climbing a tree. Being somewhat in 
advance of the others, who were lingering behind, 
looking for gooseberries, I ran up, throwing my 
hand axe at him. Missed, sent some clubs after 
him; but, as Pat said, "I hit him, in the same 
place, where I missed him before." After a few 
minutes however, Bro. Foster came up and shot 
him through the body. 

As he was dying slowly and before he fell, I 
looked around and saw Bro. Waddell kindling a 
fire. Then I thought as I saw him, of the teach- 
ing of the old "Westminister Catechism," — that 
it was "fore-ordained," that seven hungry men 
should eat that porcupine that day. 

He soon fell, was quickly skinned; cut into 
seven pieces and roasted on as many long sticks. 
When done and ready to eat I said, "Bro. Wad- 
dell, ask a blessing!" 

"0 Lord," he said, reverently, "we thank Thee, 
that Thou hast spread a table for us in the wilder- 
ness. Sanctify the bounties of Thy providence to 
our good. Bring us through our journey safely, 
and save us for Christ's sake. Amen." 

After this sumptuous repast, and being very 
much refreshed, we resumed our journey, cheerily. 
About four o'clock, we found ourselves in a Nor- 
wegian settlement, twelve miles north of Bound 
Prairie; having been led from our course by fol- 
lowing the lumberman's road in the morning. 
Obtaining some food, we hastened on; slept a few 



RECOLLECTIONS. 243 

hours, and reached the camp ground, a little after 
sunrise on Sunday morning. At eight o'clock A. 
M., Bro. "Waddell preached; Hobart, at eleven; 
three p. M., Waddell; Hobart, at night. On Mon- 
day the same variation. God's power was mightily 
revealed. Convictions were deep, and conversions 
clear and numerous. 

On Monday night, after laboring in the altar for 
two hours, I had lain down in the preachers' tent 
to obtain some much needed rest. I had been 
there but a short time when I was aroused by 
hearing one of our young sisters, Miss Mary 
Crume, exclaiming in a clear voice, "Give me 
room! Oh, give me room! Give me room!" 

Supposing that the people were crowding so 
closely around the altar as to incommode those 
who were there, I went out, intending to request 
them not to press so closely on those who were en- 
gaged at the altar. But, when about half way to 
the stand I heard her say again: "O give me 
room to praise Him ! ! This little world is not half 
big enough to praise Him in!!" 

Ascertaining that the occasion of her joy was, 
that two brothers and a sister had just been glori- 
ously converted, I concluded that I could not well 
enlarge her sphere of action; and with a glad heart 
retired again to obtain some sleep, while the meet- 
ing went on with great earnestness and interest. 

The camp-meeting closed on Tuesday; about 
fifty having been converted and added to the 
church. 

On Wednesday, the brethren who accompanied 



244 RECOLLECTIONS. 

me, returned home to Baraboo by way of Reeds- 
burg; the friends of Round Prairie taking them 
until they were on the blazed trail, which intersect- 
ed the Black river road; while I, accompanied by 
Bro. Pardun, went up to Black River Falls, to hold 
my next quarterly meeting there. Returning home 
by way of Prescott, I learned that Bro. Harrington 
was sick at Stillwater, and hastening there I had 
the sad privilege of spending a few moments with 
him, and of commending him in prayer to God. 
Tearfully I left him, and he, triumphing in Christ, 
departed very soon after to be "forever with the 
Lord." 

A few days after the death of her husband, 
Sister Harrington went to join him "in that land 
where the inhabitants never say, 'I am sick — ' " 
leaving six children, orphans and alone. 

I did all that was in my power for the children 
until they were settled with relatives of their 
mother, in Wisconsin. I also arranged for sup- 
plying the vacancy left by Bro. Harrington on the 
Stillwater charge. But his death was a severe loss 
to me and to the work. This was one of those in- 
explicable mysteries which we are sometimes 
brought to face, and from which we turn away, 
conscious that we can not fathom the darkness; 
yet trusting that even these inscrutible providences 
of life "shall work out, for us, a far more ex- 
ceeding and eternal weight of glory." 

It required the utmost diligence to complete my 
several rounds before navigation closed, so as to 
reach the Wisconsin appointments; there being 



KECOLLECTIONS. 245 

no communication between Minnesota and the 
country below, during the winter, except by a mail 
once a week, via Hudson, Eau Claire, and Black 
Kiver Falls; which mail failed to get through 
about as often as it succeeded. The winter was 
spent in assisting the brethren in Minnesota. 
The spring was early; water, high; the steam- 
boats, were numerous; and I had no difficulty in 
reaching my appointments, by boat. 

At our next conference, which met at Waukesha, 
Bishop Waugh, presiding, the work was so ar- 
ranged that it was no longer necessary for me to 
ascend the Wisconsin river, that part of the 
work having been attached to Madison district. 
That conference also took action on the establish- 
ment of "The Northwestern Christian Advocate," 
and a book depository at Chicago. The following 
were elected delegates to the, general conference 
to be held at Boston in May, 1852: C. Hobart, H. 
Summers, and W. H. Sampson. 

I was continued on the Minnesota district, which 
was composed of nine charges. La Crosse and 
Point Douglas having been added during the year. 
The work had so increased and enlarged in 
Northwestern Wisconsin, that my time and 
strength were taxed to their utmost, this year. 
But I was richly rewarded by seeing the work of 
God prosper throughout the entire district. I was 
in the habit of taking a horse on the steamboat, 
with me, down to Prairie du Chien, and so provid- 
ed, reached all my appointments during the sum- 
mer. 



246 RECOLLECTIONS. 

Having now been repeatedly all over the settled 
portions, and much that was still unsettled, in 
Minnesota and Wisconsin — over their bluffs and 
highlands — I "pre-empted" them all, every hill and 
valley, every table-land and prairie, for God and the 
Methodist church, and His they are, by right. 
This "pre-emption," I want to say, I have from 
that time to this held; and with the assistance of 
my brethren, we have been proving up and keep- 
ing possession of our claim tolerably well. 

The appointments on the district that year were : 
St. Paul, T. M. Fullerton; St. Anthony, C. A. New- 
comb; Point Douglass supplied by Bro. Dow; 
Stillwater, G. W. Richardson; Chippewa, W. 
Mayne; Black River, Jessie Pardun; Prairie La 
Crosse, George Chester; Round Prairie, E. Stevens; 
Prairie du Chien, J. C. Dana. These dear brethren 
were faithful and true and we labored together in 
great harmony and with good success. 

About the third week in April, after a ride from 
St. Paul to Prairie du Chien, where I had held the 
quarterly meeting, I took the steamer to Galena; 
a night's ride by stage brought me to Freeport; 
the railroad, to Toledo, where I spent the Sabbath 
and preached; steamboat, to Buffalo, and railroad 
via Albany and Springfield to Boston, the seat of 
general conference, April 30th. 

I was entertained, while in Boston, by Bro. Col- 
lins, a son-in-law of Rev. E. Washburn, a super- 
anuate of the New York conference. This was 
particularly agreeable, as I had formed the 
acquaintance of the father of Mrs. Collins, while 



RECOLLECTIONS. 247 

on the Racine district, and we were friends at once. 
Bro. Miller, of the Philadelphia conference, was 
my room-mate. 

General conference met at Bromfield Street 
church, May 1st, 1852. It was to me, at this time, 
an inexpressible pleasure to meet many of the great 
and good fathers of • our Zion, with whose names 
I had been familiar from childhood: Nathan and 
Heman Bangs, Phineas Rice, J. P. Durbin, J. A. 
Collins, Dr. Elliott and many others; not omiting 
my old friends and presiding elders, Peter Cart- 
wright and Dr. Peter Akers. Bishop Hedding 
had died but a few months before, leaving Bishops 
Waugh, Morris, Janes and Hamline, to superin- 
tend the church and bear the burdens of the epis- 
copacy. Bishop Hamline was not present, and re- 
signed at this conference. 

Our principal business seemed to be to try 
"appeals," re-arrange and systematize the Mis- 
sionary society, and elect four additional bishops. 
Among the "appeals" was that of J. S. Inskip. 
He had been censured by the Ohio conference for 
criticising, in a book which he had published, 
the action of said conference in the matters 
of singing, pews, etc., and had appealed from 
the decision of that conference. Granville 
Moody and others defended the action of the con- 
ference, while B. F. Teft and J. S. Inskip pleaded 
for the appellant. The decision of the conference 
was reversed and Inskip cleared. 

Dr. Durbin was then secretary of the Missionary 
society, and it is to him that the M. E. church is 



248 RECOLLECTIONS. 

indebted for the present form of our grand mis- 
sionary organization. 

Much of my time was devoted to the work of 
the committee on "Missions and Boundaries," and 
when not so occupied, every moment was spent 
in attending to the business of the conference. 

When it was reported that four new bishops 
were needed, there was no small stir and excite- 
ment, and there was much talk among the delegates 
as to the men who were supposed competent to be 
elected to that important office. But I am proud 
to be able to say, that among those there was not 
one, so far as I knew, who did anything that looked 
like scheming or planning for his own election. 
Each man felt anxious and ambitious that the best 
among us should be the ones selected. There 
seemed to be a general consent to the plan that 
the New England states should have a man taken 
from one of their conferences. Philadelphia, 
Maryland and New Jersey, one; Pennsylvania 
and Ohio, one; and one from the western confer- 
ences, including Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Rock River 
and Wisconsin. 

When the election came on, greatly to the satis- 
faction of the bishops and older members, the four 
bishops were elected on the first ballot: Prof. 
Baker of the New Hampshire conference; Levi 
Scott, then book agent, of the Philadelphia con- 
ference; Mathew Simpson, at that time editor of 
the "Western Christian Advocate," and E. R. 
Ames of the Indiana conference. 

Indianna wanted Dr. Berry, and would not and 



EECOLLECTIONS. 249 

did not accept nor vote for Ames, but Illinois, 
Rock River, Wisconsin and Iowa favored him. 

As I recall the scenes of that day and its tide of 
interest, I am reminded that the eight bishops — 
the four who for so long had been loved and re- 
vered as our superintendents, and the four who 
were that day elected, and bore themselves so wise- 
ly and so well afterwards and have earned the 
honor and respect and affection of the church, — 
with nearly every man who as delegate to that 
general conference voted for them, have passed, 
on to the legion of the "promoted." "They rest, 
but their works do follow them." 

Boston cared for our General conference of 1852, 
with a generosity and wealth of hospitality such as 
had never before been extended to that body. 

One expression of this was the chartering of a 
fine steamer by the city and an invitation to our 
body to take an excursion to the several islands in 
the harbor, including a visit to Fort Warren and 
other points of interest; also to partake of a colla- 
tion on our return. We were escorted on our very 
delightful trip, by the Mayor and Council of 
Boston, presidents, professors, doctors, lawyers, 
merchants and statesmen, resident in that city. 
And on our arrival at the grand Immigrant Build- 
ing, just then completed, in which we were to be 
served, as some of us in our greenness supposed, 
with a "cold lunch;" there was spread for our 
refreshment, on large and elegantly furnished 
tables, every thing, it seemed, that earth or air or 
sea could furnish. Before we discussed the viands 

17 



250 RECOLLECTIONS. 

however, so luxuriously displayed and so liberally 
provided, we were requested to sit and hear the 
mayor, or some other notable, tell us what wonder- 
ful men we were; what great things we had done; 
what an heroic ancestry we represented; what a 
vast influence we were exerting; and what great 
deeds were expected of us. This, some of us at 
least, thought might be taken at about seventy-five 
per cent, discount. However, as soft solder was 
cheap and very abundant, and it pleased our 
friends to use it, we generously allowed them to 
put it on to their hearts' content. 

Not to be outdone in courtesy, there must, of 
course, be a response, and on John A. Collins of 
Baltimore, fell the honor. In a very graceful style 
he began by saying: — 

"Since my childhood, I have heard of New Eng- 
land, and of Boston, its proud capital. But until 
within a few pleasant days past I had never set 
foot on its soil. I have heard of its energy, inge- 
nuity, thrift and enterprise; of its educational and 
humanitarian institutions; of its talent and elo- 
quence ; of its elegance, its generosity and its hos- 
pitality. My expectations were very high. But 
when I came, and saw, and enjoyed for myself, 
like the Queen of Sheba I can say, 'The half had 
never been told!' " 

Other speakers were also called for, who did 
credit to themselves and the occasion. And al- 
together, before we did execution to the eatables, 
we had pretty nearly cancelled our obligation in 
the line of "solder." 



RECOLLECTIONS. 251 

Still further to do us honor, a grand meeting in 
"the cradle of American liberty," Faneuil Hall, 
was announced, and Daniel Webster was to ad- 
dress us. Seats were reserved for the conference, 
and we listened while the greatest of American 
orators told us of what he knew about Method- 
ism, and the Methodist church. 

In common with the majority of the delegates, I 
preached on each of the four Sundays during the 
month, in Boston, Charleston, Providence, and 
Maiden. In the last city I had the pleasure of 
visiting Rev. Samuel Norris, my mother's cousin 
and a super anu ate of New Hampshire con- 
ference. My care and effort at our General con- 
ference were earnestly given, that action might be 
taken on the establishment of a "Northwestern 
Christian Advocate," and a book depository at Chi- 
cago, on which measure our Wisconsin conference 
had previously taken action at the suggestion of 
myself and one or two others; recommending that 
the conferences of the West all unite in this re- 
quest. 

I wish also to state that this idea originated 
with myself while stationed in Chicago in 
1847. During that year so desirous did I feel 
that a beginning should be made of the publica- 
tion of a "Northwestern Christian Advocate," that 
I wrote an editorial for what I hoped we should 
soon issue as the first number. But the unpleas- 
antness arising out of the conduct of James 
Mitchell, hindered the execution of our plans and 
delayed action. To my very great satisfaction 



252 RECOLLECTIONS. 

General conference acceded to our request, and 
J. V. Watson was elected editor. And the book 
agents at Cincinnati were directed to open the de- 
pository at Chicago. At this conference I also 
suggested, and secured the adoption of the rule in 
the Discipline, authorizing the appointment of a 
committee on church music. 

Before leaving St. Paul for Boston, I was 
authorized by the trustees of "Market street" to 
collect what funds I could to complete the build- 
ing of the church. In prosecuting this trust, I 
called, while in Boston, on that prince among 
men, and among Methodists, Lee Claflin. He was 
especially busy when I first called on him; but 
kindly and courteously explaining how it was, said, 
"Come and take tea with me to-morrow evening, 
Bro. Hobart, I'd like to talk with you!" 

I went accordingly, and after spending a most 
enjoyable evening with Mr. Claflin and his charm- 
ing family, and after we had talked up the great 
Northwest, and Minnesota, and St. Paul, with its 
one unfinished Methodist church, I felt almost 
confident from the interest which he had already 
manifested, that he would contribute something 
toward the church. I thought of perhaps twenty- 
five, and I hoped, fifty dollars might be given. 
Imagine my surprise, when before I left, 
he handed me a check for two hundred dollars, 
at the same time telling me that if it were in his 
power then, he would have done better by me. 

This liberal souled Christian gentleman, the 
father of Gov. Claflin, of Mass., illustrated the 



RECOLLECTIONS. 253 

truth of God's promise, "Them that honor me I will 
honor." He commenced business life, he told 
me, as a young man and a Christian, with very 
little capital. But, from the commencement of his 
going into business, he covenanted with the 
Lord, that year by year he would devote to His 
service one-tenth of all he made. He did this un- 
til his capital became ten thousand dollars, which 
capital he had accumulated much more rapidly 
than he had once thought possible. He then 
covenanted to devote a higher per cent, of his 
increase, and did so until he reached a capital of 
twenty thousand. When this was reached, he in- 
creased his per centage of offering to the Lord, 
and so continued to do, until his capital was eighty 
thousand. He then covenanted with the Lord that 
hereafter, whatever his increase be over ninety 
thousand dollars, it should be entirely devoted to 
His service. "And," said Bro. Clanin, "many 
years have passed since then, and I have made a 
good many hundred thousand dollars, and it has 
been my happiness to give every cent of it to the 
cause of God." 

He was at the time of my visit, contributing to 
the building of a large free seated church in Bos- 
ton, to the amount of several thousand dollars. 
The sunshine of a heart at rest, beamed from his 
countenance. His life was a perpetual benedic- 
tion; and to me, his memory and the kindly utter- 
ances and lessons I learned in that interview with 
my friend, Lee Clanin, of Boston, have been like 
ointment poured forth, of perpetual fragrance. 



254 RECOLLECTIONS. 

At the close of the conference I took the steamer 
from Fall River for New York, intending to spend 
a couple of weeks there in soliciting funds for our 
church. This was my first and only sea voyage, 
and I enjoyed it exceedingly. 

Arriving in New York, I made my way at once 
to 200 Mulberry street, and was there frankly" 
informed by the preachers, whom I met, "that the 
prospect for getting funds for a church building in 
Minnesota was very poor; that so great had been 
the financial pressure of late that every official 
board had requested the city pastors not to give 
the name of a single member of their respective 
charges to any one who was soliciting funds." 
I saw that they intended to heed the request. 
This looked as if my way would be completely 
hedged up. Still I determined not to leave the 
city without at least making an honest effort to 
succeed. 

While thinking about how I should proceed, I 
took up a paper, which fortunately contained a full 
list of the contributors to the purchase of the "Old 
Brewery," at "Five Points." This I knew was a 
Methodist enterprise; and here, I judged, would 
be found the names of the most wealthy or most 
liberal members of the church. Accordingly, I 
sat down and made a copy of the names of every 
individual who had given twenty dollars and up- 
wards to that fund. Then, obtaining a city direc- 
tory, I made a list of their residences and places of 
business. Next, I took a map of the city and 
grouped together those whose places of business 



KECOLLECTIONS. 255 

were located contiguously, and then I was ready 
to set out. 

In the meantime Bishop Janes had given me 
a note of introduction; but at the same time 
apologizing, almost, for so doing, by stating that he 
would not feel justified in even doing this, only that 
Minnesota was missionary ground, and must have 
help. Eev. Da^id Terry very kindly made me 
welcome to his home while I remained in the city, 
which was also a great help to the work. 

The two weeks' effort, which I at that time made 
in New York, proved one of the most annoying and 
trying that I had ever undertaken. Usually, 
about such a conversation as the following would 
ensue on my calling at the office or residence of 
some of these Methodist brethren. After present- 
ing Bishop Janes' note, which spoke of me as a 
friend of his, the brother would read and say: — 

"Minnesota! Where is that?" 

My reply would be, "You have heard of the Mis- 
sissippi river?" 

"O, yes!" 

"And you have heard of St. Louis?" 

"Well— yes!" 

"Then, if you will take a steamboat at St. Louis 
and go up the Mississippi a thousand miles you 
will be in Minnesota, at the very northwestern ex- 
tremity of the settled portion of the United States. 
There, in St. Paul, the capital of the territory, we 
are trying to establish Methodism; and we are 
building a Methodist church, and we need help, 
very much." 



256 KECOLLECTIONS. 

"Who gave you my name?" 

"Nobody." 

"How did you find me out?" 

"Well," I would say, "I had either the good or 
ill fortune to be born in Vermont, and have been 
exercising my Yankee prerogative of 'guessing' 
that you were a clever sort of man and would like 
to help us!" In one instance, at this remark of 
mine, the hand of the party addressed went into 
the pocket, a two dollar bill was produced, and the 
hand with the money was thrust at me from be- 
hind without a word; the action plainly signifying 
— take this, and leave! 

Before the Sabbath came I had had several 
invitations to preach; but no one was willing that 
I should use his pulpit to mention the subject of 
my mission, nor take up a collection for my work. 
However, I preached for them in "Janes' Street," 
as well as I could, and on Monday morning started 
out again. Meeting Bishop Janes in the street, 
he inquired how I was getting on. I told him I 
thought rather poorly, as I had succeeded in get- 
ting but fifteen dollars a day. 

"Oh," said he, smiling, "you are doing splendid- 
ly! Keep on while you can do as well as that!" 

What I did collect was in small sums, ranging 
from fifty cents to ten dollars. The four Brothers 
Harper gave me five dollars stating that it was 
from the firm — while Bro. George Stevenson a 
comparatively poor man gave me ten dollars and 
wished he could help me more. Some gave 
grudgingly, some willingly — and nearly all were 



RECOLLECTIONS. 257 

courteous and kiud. Altogether, at the end of the 
two weeks after gleaning the field pretty thorough- 
ly, I had collected about two hundred dollars. I 
took the afternoon train on Monday, having 
preached again on the second Sunday, and reached 
home on the 20th of June. 

The work on my district was about as it had 
been the previous year, and was attended with the 
blessing of the Lord in the saving of many who 
were added to the church. 

Bro. George Chester who was on the La Crosse 
circuit, did a hard year's work. His charge was 
over two hundred miles in circumference, as he 
traveled it, and it was an exceedingly rough coun- 
try. Over this he had journeyed on foot and filled 
all his appointments. But this labor proved too 
exhausting for him. He was taken ill with ty- 
phoid fever, and, though he lived after convales- 
cing for some time he never regained his health. 
He was a young man of much promise, and of 
deep piety, He died in great peace, some years 
after, a martyr to his zeal. 

Many of us knew something by experience of 
what it was to suffer for Christ's sake in those 
days. The country was new, the work hard, the 
way rough, and sometimes perilous, the pay poor. 

On one of my trips that year from Prairie du 
Chien to Black river I killed fourteen rattlesnakes. 

This year our conference met at Fond du Lac, 
Wisconsin; Bishop Ames, presiding. I was re- 
turned to the district for the fourth year. My 
district — now extended from Prairie du Chien to 



258 EEOOLLECTIONS. 

Sandy Lake, (Rev. Samuel Spates, missionary) 
a distance of eight hundred miles — includ- 
ing St. Paul, T. M. Fullerton; St. Anthony, 
E. C. Jones; St. Peter, S. L. Leonard; Stillwater, 
R. Dudgeon; Willow River, George Chester; 
Round Prairie, Nicholas Mayne; Chippewa, sup- 
plied; La Crosse, Jessie Pardun; Black River 
Falls, supplied. The work was more difficult this 
year than before and the hardships greater. But 
my health was good and I was able to visit all my 
charges on the lower part of the district and hold 
their quarterly meetings twice before winter. 
The winter was, as usual, devoted to pushing the 
work in Minnesota. I was able also to secure two 
lots in St. Anthony for a church and parsonage; 
and with the assistance of two hundred and fifty 
dollars, the gift of a friend in Baltimore, Bro. 
Jones succeeded in erecting on one of the lots, a 
small frame church, and subsequently a parsonage 
was built. The parsonage is still the same with 
some improvements, and the church, which later 
was enlarged, gave way in 1872 to the present fine 
building on the same lot. The old church may 
yet be seen on the opposite side of the street to 
which it w T as removed when sold. 

Five hundred dollars was received from "Zach- 
ens" of Baltimore by Bishop Janes to be a per- 
petual loan and to be used in the building of 
churches. Two hundred and fifty of this was ap- 
plied to the church at St. Anthony, and to be se- 
cured by mortgage as soon as the title could be 
perfected. The other two hundred and fifty was 



KECOLLECTIONS. 259 

loaned to B. F. Hoyt, on interest, and at the end 
of my fourth year on the district, both the note 
and the claim on St. Anthony M. E. church were 
handed over to my successor, David Brooks. 

Early in the spring, I made preparations to visit 
Sandy Lake, to reach which I had to ascend the 
Mississippi four hundred miles, mostly in a bark 
canoe. This point, with our Indian missions at 
the head of Lake Superior, had been attached to 
the Wisconsin conference in 1852, and in 1853 fell 
into my district. 

I engaged Bro. Jacob Fulstrom, an old voyageur, 
an employe of the Hudson Bay Company, and 
familiar with all that country, to be superintendent 
and generalissimo of our expedition. This Bro, 
Fulstrom was the first fruit of our mission among 
the Indians, and was converted on this wise: 
Besiding within a mile of Fort Snelling, at "Cold 
Spring," he had been employed occasionally by 
the Presbyterian missionaries, and had been told 
by them that "the Methodists were coming." 
Anxious to know who these might be, he was in- 
formed that they were a kind of religious people, 
who were very noisy and demonstrative: that they 
shouted and hallooed and stamped; that they 
would often strike the Bible when they preached; 
and sometimes would knock the pulpit down, they 
were so earnest. This account greatly interested 
"Jacobs," as he was called, in the expected mis- 
sionaries, and on the arrival, not long after, of 
Bro. Alfred Branson, accompanied by Bro. David 
King as missionary, Jacobs was on the alert to 



260 EECOLLECTIONS. 

hear and see all that might be said or done by 
them. 

Major Plimpton, of Fort Snelling, to accommo- 
date the people who were anxious to hear the 
Methodist missionary, fitted up the hospital, the 
largest room in the fort, with a temporary pulpit, 
and there Bro. King preached on the first Sunday 
after arriving. His text was: "Awake thou that 
sleepest and arise from the dead, and Christ shall 
give thee light." Eph. V., 14. 

Bro. King belonged to the school of demonstra- 
tive preachers, and after a time becoming very 
much engaged, he brought down his hand with 
force upon the Bible and — away went the pulpit. 
This was precisely what Jacobs was expecting, and 
with the performance he was very much delighted. 
He made up his mind that this was the usual way 
"these Methodists did." Looking, listening, watch- 
ing, alive with interest, he only waited until Bro. 
King came down towards the door; when, going 
to him, and taking his hand in both of his, he ex- 
claimed, "My name Jacobs; I want to join you!" 

A Swedish boy, sent off when but a child, pro- 
bably by those who wished to obtain his inherit- 
ance; set adrift in Hudson Bay; a trusted em- 
ploye of the English fur traders for many years; 
married to an Indian wife — his life had truly been 
an eventful one. He became devotedly attached 
to Bro. King; joined the church; became savingly 
converted, and lived to be of much use among his 
adopted people, and very helpful to the mission- 
aries as an interpreter. He died a happy Christian. 



RECOLLECTIONS. 261 

Arriving at Crow Wing, we remained over Sun- 
day. I preached at Fort Ripley; dined with Col. 
Todd, brother-in-law of Abraham Lincoln. To 
Col. Todd, commandant of the fort, the missionaries 
are indebted for many courtesies and much kind- 
ness. 

At Fort Ripley we hired a young Frenchman, 
with a birch-bark canoe, and laid in provisions for 
the remainder of the trip. About noon on Monday 
we were under way and camped that night about 
sixteen miles up the river. The next day we 
passed through Rabbit Portage, an Indian village, 
by following up the Rabbit river, a small stream 
on the east side of the Mississippi; then through 
another lake; down a small stream; then through 
a lake of considerable extent, which was very 
beautiful and star-like in shape. From thence we 
carried our canoe and baggage about a quarter of 
a mile, to the Mississippi again. By this route we 
gained some thirty miles of up stream navigation 
while traveling twelve. 

Our route, during the remainder of the trip, ran 
through Bro. Jacobs' old hunting grounds, and 
he pointed out the different localities where he had 
frequently caught and hunted otter, moose, elk, 
bear and deer. At night we camped on a beautiful 
flat, embowered with balsam and spruce, and slept 
most sweetly. The next day, by making a portage 
of less than one hundred feet, across a bend of the 
river, we saved a distance of five miles of paddling. 
We camped, the last night, out on a pine plateau, 
and, starting early the next morning, reached 



262 RECOLLECTIONS. 

Sandy Lake about 2 p. M. Here we were joyfully 
welcomed by Bro. Samuel Spates and wife, who 
had been faithfully laboring in this place among 
the Indians, since 1847. 

I found the mission prospering and the mis- 
sionaries much beloved by the Christian Indians. 
A school had been established; quite a number of 
the children had learned to read, and between 
twenty and thirty had been converted. I remained 
with them four days; preached several times 
through Bro. Fulstrom as interpreter; held a 
council with the clan; and baptized Bro. Spates' 
youngest son. I enjoyed the visit much. 

On our arrival at the mission, I had paid and 
discharged the Frenchman, who returned to Fort 
Ripley with the canoe. My intention was to return 
by way of Mille Lac and arrange for a mission 
there, but while we were still at Sandy Lake, a 
great council of the Indians was called at Watab 
for the next week; and as all the Mille Lac In- 
dians would be at the council, we were obliged to 
buy a canoe and return by the river. The council 
was called because the Winnebagoes, who were 
located at Long Prairie, some one hundred miles dis- 
tant, had Avantonly murdered two Chippewa Indians. 
The question to be settled was as to whether 
the avenger of blood could be bought off, and so 
save the death of many Winnebagoes, and perhaps 
long continued bloodshed. But the council did not 
succeed in making peace. Hole-in-the-Day, a lead- 
ing chief, ended it by declaring that, "Nothing but 
blood can atone for the killing of the Chippewa." 



RECOLLECTIONS. 263 

The result was that the Winnebagoes left their 
home at Long Prairie, and, shortly after, were 
located by Governor Gorman on the Blue Earth 
river; thus putting the Sioux between them and 
their enemies, the Chippewas. 

While holding the council with the Chippewa 
clan at Sandy Lake, of course I had to make them 
a speech. I told them, that several winters before, 
I had lived many day's travel south, in the same 
country with Brother and Sister Spates ; that I had 
known them a long time before they came to fchig 
country; (Just here Sister Spates said, "Tell them 
we had plenty to eat, and many friends"), so I 
added that they had had good, kind friends, good 
houses to live in, good fathers and mothers and 
brothers and sisters, and plenty of beef and pork, 
plenty of flour and corn and milk and butter, and 
clothes; that the good people in that "south-land" 
having heard that the Great Spirit had some red 
children up here, who did not know Him, and did 
not do what was right; that these red children had 
not heard of their Savior, who died to 
save them, and bring them to Heaven; that 
these praying people in the "south-land" had sent 
Bro. Spates and Bro. Huddleston to teach them 
and help them ; that Bro. Spates had stayed with 
them two years and then had gone back to see 
whether he could get a young lady to come and 
help him to teach them; that Sister Spates had 
come, and they had been with them now many 
years, not to trade with them or cheat them out of 



264 RECOLLECTIONS. 

their furs or skins, but just to do them good, and tell 
them of the blessed Jesus ; that if the red brothers 
would be kind to Brother and Sister Spates, 
and send the children to school, they would stay 
with them and help them and teach them still; that 
if they would not do this, then Brother and Sister 
Spates would have to go back to their kind friends 
in the "south-land;" that I had come from St. Paul 
to see them and to learn what they intended to do : 
and now I wanted their answer. 

When I sat down Bu-sha, the chief of the clan — 
a tall, hard looking Indian with a restless look — 
rose, came forward, and shook hands with me, and 
with all the others present; then, straightening 
himself to his full six feet, he said, extending his 
long hand and arm: — 

"I am known from Mackinaw to Gull lake. 
They talk about me across the great water. 
Everybody knows that I speak the truth. [He 
was a noted liar.] We have heard your words. 
We are glad that you came, and have spoken. All 
the Indians here want a missionary, and we want 
no one but Mr. and Mrs. Spates. We like them. 
We have not sent our children to school much. 
We cannot send them in the spring when we go 
away to make sugar. We cannot send them in the 
fall when we go to gather rice. [Wild rice.] We 
cannot send them when we go to hunt. But we 
will send them when we are here. We want 
Brother and Sister Spates and we don't want you to 
take them away." 



RECOLLECTIONS. 265 

To this speech the Indians assented by the 
usual, "Ho!! Ho!!" I told them that their teach- 
ers should be left with them another year, and 
after that we would see how well they had kept 
their promise. 

Then we went down to Watab and attended the 
great council; saw the Mille Lac Indians and ar- 
ranged with them for a mission; which mission 
continued several years, Bro. Jacob Fulstrom 
being the missionary. We also met here Gov- 
ernor Stevens as he was starting, with about fifty 
men, across the then un traveled wilderness for 
Puget Sound. At the conclusion of the council we 
put our canoe on board the steamer "Gov. Ram- 
sey," and were soon at home. 

The remainder of that summer I traveled in al- 
most everyway: by stage, wagon, ox-cart, buggy, and 
on foot; by fording and swimming; by steamboat, 
on a barge; by raft, in a skiff and by canoe; in 
short, in any way in which I could reach my ap- 
pointments and preach the Word of life to the 
people and build up the church — I journeyed and 
labored. 

Preaching in our one church in St. Paul, in 
school houses, in hotels, in private houses, in barns, 
in groves and in saw mills, in every place in which 
I could get a congregation together, — I declared, 
so far as in me lay, the whole counsel of God. 

During the winter of 1852-3, two members of 
the New England conference, Revs. Nutting and 
Nichols, came out as the agents of a colony to se- 
lect a location for settlement in Minnesota. I 

18 



266 RECOLLECTIONS. 

took considerable pains to assist these gentlemen, 
hoping that the coming of such a colony would be 
alike beneficial to the colonists and to the state. 
After looking the best locations over, we finally 
selected the land on the Cannon river — where the 
city of Northfield, the seat of Carlton College now 
stands — a site hardly to be surpassed for milling 
and farming facilities. The colonists came in the 
spring; went over the country; visited the place 
selected, and came down 'to Eed Wing, through 
one of the most beautiful and desirable sections of 
the territory, and there reported that they "had 
seen nothing worthy of attention!" Most of them 
apparently disgusted with the country, returned 
to the East, while those who remained, scattered 
in various directions. 

The two ministers settled here. Mr. Nutting, 
whose health was feeble, lived among us for a few 
years, a worthy Christian man, much respected. 
Mr. Nichols soon joined the Congregationalists ; but 
after preaching for that denomination a few years, 
united with the Presbyterians. Some eight years 
afterwards he was drowned in Lake Calhoun. 

The conference met in 1853, at Baraboo; Bishop 
Scott, presiding. 

I was soon informed by the bishop and others 
that the church at Milwaukee had been using 
what influence it could exert on the bishop, to have 
me sent to that city and stationed at Spring street 
church, where it was thought I was needed. This 
seemed to me then, and has ever since appeared, 
not only an unwise but also an unkind and un- 



RECOLLECTIONS. 267 

necessary change. With this view of the matter I 
represented to the bishop that I thought I had 
better not be sent to Milwaukee. But the bishop 
was inflexible, the cabinet inexorable, and the 
Milwaukee friends unchangeable and determined 
to have me, so despite my protest, I was appointed 
to Spring street church, Milwaukee. 

During conference, after preaching the mis- 
sionary sermon on Sunday, the fifth day of the 
session, I was taken seriously sick with what 
threatened to be bilious fever. From this illness 
I was relieved by a hydropathic ice water pack, 
which induced such a copious perspiration that in 
two days I was comparatively well. Keturning 
home, much against the best judgment and incli- 
nation of my wife and myself, we began to pack 
up for our journey of five hundred miles to Mil- 
waukee; and reached that city in two weeks. 



268 BECOLLECTIONS. 



CHAPTEK XXI. 

T FOUND Spring street church, Milwaukee, 
■*■ large, zealous and united, and began my work 
with encouraging indications. From the manifes- 
tations of the Spirit of the Lord and the enthusi- 
asm and cordiality with which the people received 
us, it seemed that the hand of the Master was 
overruling this appointment for good. Conver- 
sions soon began to be numerous; the congrega- 
tions were large and attentive; prayer meetings 
overflowing and the classes, unusually well attend- 
ed. 

We had held a very profitable watch-night meet- 
ing, taking into the church on probation in the 
first half hour of the new year, about twelve 
persons; among whom were Isaac E. Springer, 
now of Michigan conference, and his twin sister. 
But early on the morning of the first of January, 
a fire broke out in a blacksmith's shop adjoining 
our- church property; and before eight o'clock our 
large, well built church, which had but a few hours 
before resounded with the praises of God, and the 
rejoicings of new born souls, was consumed by the 
flames; nothing remaining but the blackened walls. 

This deranged all my plans for the winter; for 



BECOLLECTIONS. 269 

among other things I had intended to hold a pro- 
tracted meeting, seeing hopeful evidences of a 
revival. But we went to work to rebuild; not, 
however, on the old site. A better location was 
purchased and a church, on the plan of the Clarke 
street church, Chicago, arranged for and built by 
my successors. We hired a part of "Young's 
Hall," standing on the opposite side of the river 
from where our church had stood, and which was 
the best we could do. This we occupied for 
Sabbath services, and held there, for a short time, a 
series of week-night meetings. These could not 
be made the success that we desired ; as during the 
progress of our services the other parts of the 
"Hall" were frequently occupied by concerts, and 
balls, the noise from which disturbed us very 
much; the rooms in which these were held, being di- 
rectly over our heads. And soon, too, the owners 
of the "Hall" objected to the continuance of our 
meetings "as they interfered," they said, "with the 
renting of the other parts of the 'Hall' for social 
purposes." Consequently we had to close our week- 
day meetings twenty having been converted. 

Conference met at Janesville the following year; 
Bishop Morris, presiding. 

Jessie T. Peck, missionary secretary, visited us. 
He was then filling out the unexpired term of Dr. 
Monroe, lately deceased. J. V. Watson, editor of 
the "Northwestern Christian Advocate," was also 
present; and Dr. Hinman, president-elect of our 
Northwestern University. These were at that time 
three of our most noted men, and they each did 



270 KECOLLECTIONS. 

us good service both in the pulpit and on the 
platform. 

Dr. Hinman and I roomed together. He was 
not well, and I was convinced from his appearance, 
that he had been too long in a malarial country; 
and ventured to advise that he return, as quickly 
as possible, to his native hills of Vermont. He 
thought my fears were groundless. However, in 
about two weeks afterward, he did start for Ver- 
mont; but it was too late. He was attacked with 
bilious fever on the way and died before reaching 
his old home. 

During this session I was urged by several of 
my old friends from the Racine district and else- 
where to preach ; and to gratify their importunity, 
I suppose — the committee on public worship ar- 
ranged for me to occupy Sabbath evening. I spoke 
from Rom. I., 17: "For herein is the righteousness 
of God revealed, from faith to faith; as it is writ- 
ten, the just shall live by faith." God gave me un- 
usual liberty and "a measure of the spirit to profit 
withall," so that I was enabled with some clearness 
to prove: 

First, that the Gospel shows the act of creation 
and the establishment of a moral government to be 
a righteous act. Secondly, God's method of justi- 
fying sinners is thus shown to be a righteous act. 
Thirdly, the final salvation of the pure and the 
final punishment of the wicked will be in accord- 
ance with the principles of immutable rectitude. 

Among my old friends who were present, was 
Father Ebenezer Washburn, of whom I have before 



RECOLLECTIONS. 271 

spoken. He was seated in the pulpit, and greatly 
enjoyed the discourse ; manifesting his appreciation 
from time to time by the heartiest responses. At 
the conclusion he thanked me, with much warmth 
and kindness; telling me that he was glad he had 
heard that setting forth of God's righteousness; 
that it was new to him, and was most satisfactory. 
This dear brother, then in his eighty-fifth year, I 
think, and for about ten years a superanuated mem- 
ber of the New York conference, was greatly be- 
loved by all who knew him; not only for his grand 
record, and for his work's sake, but also for the 
sweet and helpful spirit which he constantly mani- 
fested. He had been the peer and associate, in 
the ministry, of Nathan Bangs, Daniel Ostrander, 
William McKendree, Drs. Fisk, Olin and others; 
so that his approval was very grateful to me, and 
I thanked the Lord and took courage. 

Another pleasant remembrance, in connection 
with this conference, is the drive which Bros. 
Wesley, Lattin and I gave to Drs. Peck, Hinman 
and Watson, whom we took out six miles to Mount 
Zion, an elevation of nearly two hundred feet on 
Bock Prairie; I asked Dr. Peck, while we were 
enjoying the lovely prospect, to count the wheat- 
stacks which were in sight. He did so, and there 
were more than two thousand. 

My appointment to the Milwaukee district neces- 
sitated my removing my family to Waukesha. Here 
Bro. I. M. Leihy had succeeded in building a 
comfortable district parsonage, in which we were 
soon established. And I, with a newly purchased 



272 KECOLLECTIONS. 

horse and buggy, commenced my work. This dis- 
trict was very large and the roads, with one or two 
exceptions, miserable ; yet, though frequently much 
exhausted, I was able to meet all the appointments 
through the year. The charges were nearly all 
blessed with good revivals, and the membership of 
the district was increased several hundred. 

About the middle of the year my wife, who had 
never been robust, was prostrated with a severe 
illness, and confined to her bed the remainder of 
the year. This increased my cares and added 
greatly to my labor and anxiety, as it was necessary 
for me to be with her as much as possible. 

At the following conference, which met at 
Eacine, Bishop Janes, presiding, I told the bishop 
and the brethren, frankly, in the cabinet, that I 
could not care for the district without neglecting 
my wife; and that I could not care for my wife 
without neglecting the district: hence, I must ask 
for another field of labor. I also stated to them 
that my wife greatly desired to return to Minne- 
sota, where she had enjoyed much better health, 
and that it was my wish to be sent there. Ac- 
cordingly, I was appointed to Red Wing, Minne- 
sota. At the same conference my brother was 
appointed presiding elder on the Winona district, 
Minnesota. 

At this conference we elected delegates to the 
General conference of 1856, to meet at Indianapolis. 
And as we, as a conference, were known to be 
among the radicals on the question of slavery, 
there was a good deal of figuring among the 



RECOLLECTIONS. 273 

brethren so as to send an ultra anti-slavery dele- 
gation to represent the conference. The effort was 
successful; the delegates being, I. M. Leihy, C. "y^ 
Hobart and Henry Summers ; with N. Requa and 
A. Brunson, reserves. 

My wife being still very feeble, in order to 
remove her to Minnesota safely, we arranged 
a bed in a carriage, and by easy stages suc- 
ceeded in getting her to Galena in six days. 
I should not have attempted to have her take such 
a journey at that time, but from the fact that while 
we had been in Minnesota her health had been 
much improved; and we hoped that the change 
now, could we get her there comfortably, would be 
beneficial. So it proved; for from the time of our 
getting settled there, indeed, almost from our set- 
ting out for Minnesota, her strength and vitality 
increased. From Galena to Red Wing our travel 
was accomplished with little difficulty; as we were 
on the steamboat with my old friend, Captain 
Smith, commanding, and he spared no paine to 
make us comfortable. 

Red Wing, now the county seat of Goodhue 
county, and a beautiful city of nearly eight 
thousand inhabitants, was, when I first saw it, on 
July 30, 1849, an Indian village, and not open to 
white settlers. Some three hundred Sioux, men, 
women and children, greeted the boat at the land- 
ing; as filthy and ragged a set of people as can be 
imagined. 

Near the southwest corner of our present park, 
in a corn-field, stood a scaffold made of poles and 



274 EECOLLECTIONS. 

bark. On the top of this, and wrapped in a red 
blanket, with a white rag for a flag, fluttering at 
his head, lay an Indian. This man had died a 
few days before, in consequence of his ambition to 
be considered a "Wau-kon," or medicine man. In 
order to show that his claim to this honor was true, 
he had placed a rattlesnake in his blanket and car- 
ried it about, taking it out and handling it before 
the people and telling them on such occasions, 
"You see the snake don't hurt me — I am "Wau-kon." 
But the snake had bitten him, and he, being too 
proud to acknowledge it and procure the necessary 
help, had received a fatal wound. 

This was my second arrival in Minnesota; when, 
after an absence of two years, with my sick wife, 
I returned in July, 1853. I found that things at 
Eed Wing had changed considerably for the bet- 
ter; there being now about three hundred white 
settlers. 

I had sent money to my brother, Norris, who 
had been living in Red Wing, to put up a house for 
us; having already purchased some lots of my 
friend, Eev. B. F. Hoyt, one of the principal pro- 
prietors of the town. The little one story house 
containing two rooms, was completed and into it 
we gladly came and took up our abode. This 
property I have kept. It has been enlarged now 
and then, and still anwers the purpose of an 
earthly home. 

The only available preaching place in town was 
the upper story of a building which occupied the 
site of the present C, M. & St. P. railroad depot. 



RECOLLECTIONS. 275 

Here, for more than a year, religious services had 
been held on Sunday by my predecessors, Kev. 
Jabez Brooks, A. M., and Rev. Matthew Sorin. 
During the week it had served as the school room 
of the preparatory department of Hamline Uni- 
versity. 

This university had been chartered by the legis- 
lature two years before; and the contract for the 
building, designed for the preparatory depart- 
ment, had been let. On my reaching Red Wing, 
the walls of this building had ascended to the 
height of six feet. The school, then in the loft of 
the storehouse, was under the care of Rev. Jabez 
Brooks. The preparatory school building, was 
completed so as to be occupied the next winter and 
was the only structure ever attempted for the 
university while it was located at Red Wing. The 
money panic of 1857, and the depreciation of the 
Chicago and New York property, the gift of 
Bishop Hamline to the university, prevented any 
further effort at building. This school house we 
occupied as a church, also, and we thought it very 
comfortable. 

Our congregations were good and soon a gracious 
revival commenced; and this continued until the 
following spring. In the progress of this revival, 
I was greatly assisted by Bro. Jabez Brooks, and 
by Miss Sherman, a teacher in the school, and a 
Christian lady of rare grace and culture, now the 
wife of Rev. Daniel Cobb. Fifty were converted 
during the meetings and added to our little society, 
which strengthened us greatly. The winter was a 



276 RECOLLECTIONS. 

severe one, but as spring opened immigration 
increased even more rapidly than before. Thou- 
sands were coming to our new territory. 

As the time for the General conference at In- 
dianapolis drew near, it seemed to me quite doubt- 
ful whether I should be able to attend it; for 
although my wife's health was improving she was 
still delicate. However, in view of the fact that 
the Wisconsin conference was decidedly anti- 
slavery and desired her vote to be a unit on that 
subject, and that the first reserve delegate was ab- 
sent in South America and the second rather con- 
servative and also that the Minnesota conference 
was to be formed, and that I was the only delegate 
who knew enough about this upper country to 
properly locate the boundaries, I made the best 
arrangements that I could for the comfort of my 
family, and, trusting them to the care of our 
covenant keeping God, concluded to go to Indian- 
apolis. On my way there I spent the Sabbath 
with my friend and cousin, William H. Taylor, for 
whom I preached in the morning, and greatly en- 
joyed hearing him in the evening. He was then 
on a circuit near Shelbyville, Illinois. This was 
our last meeting. He died about ten years since ; 
died as he had lived, a faithful, earnest Christian, 
and a true-hearted man of God. 

Conference met in the state house, a rather 
incommodious place for such a gathering. It was 
organized by the election of Wm. L. Harris, secre- 
tary. I was appointed on three committees: 
"Boundaries," "Kevivals" and "Itinerancy." At 



RECOLLECTIONS. 277 

the first meeting of the committee on "Boundaries," 
the request of the Wisconsin conference was taken 
up, and the line, dividing the same and determin- 
ing the limits of the Minnesota conference was 
fixed. This done there remained but one reason 
why I should not return home at once; that was 
to secure unity of action by the Wisconsin delega- 
tion, whenever the question of slavery should come 
up. This kept me at my post and I greatly en- 
joyed the social privileges of the occasion. 

Many of our great men were at that General con- 
ference. The old men, who for half a century 
had led in the van and the thickest of the fight, 
while Methodism had been conquering for herself 
a name and a place and had extended from the 
Atlantic to the Pacific, were there: Davis and 
Griffith, from Baltimore; Finley and Young, from 
Ohio ; Cartwright and Akers, from Illinois ; Nathan 
and Heman Bangs, from New York. These, with 
many others whose names have become household 
words in our Methodism, shed on the business 
and the devotional sessions of that conference, a 
radiance which will never be forgotten. 

Seven bishops presided over our deliberations : 
The venerable Waugh, distinguished not only for 
his eloquence and pulpit power but also for his 
unvarying evenness, and his knowledge of charac- 
ter; the portly Morris, laconic, full of gentle 
humor, and notably conservative; the saintly 
Janes, whose every word seemed chosen with 
wisdom and who as a Methodist bishop, take him 
all in all, stands peerless among his brethren — 



278 RECOLLECTIONS. 

great, good, wise, tender and Christlike; the 
fragile looking Scott, who with that delicate 
organism of his, took rank among the mightiest 
of thinkers, the clearest of logicians and the most 
judicious of administrators; the silver tongued 
Simpson; the scholarly Baker, and the statesman- 
like Ames, then strong men — gone home now, 
everyone of them. 

Early in the session Drs. Hanna and Jobson, of 
England, were introduced, as delegates from the 
British Wesleyan connection, and whose fraternal 
greetings we greatly enjoyed. 

On Sabbath, Dr. Hanna preached a sermon 
remarkable for its evangelical sweetness and rich- 
ness of thought. We also received a delegation 
from the religious portion of the Wyandotte 
nation, headed by Mo-nen-cue, their chief, asking 
to be recognized as members of the M. E. church, 
instead of being forced into the M. E. church 
south, so distasteful to them. Rev. J. B. Finley 
through whose labors Mo-nen-cue had been con- 
verted, introduced the chief, giving a brief history 
of his own work among the Indians and of Mo- 
nen-cue' s conversion. This brother concluded his 
very impressive account, by jumping from the floor, 
clapping his hands and exclaiming, with a pathos 
which was indiscribable, that in view of the 
thousands who had been converted through his 
ministry, he was the "happiest old man in the 
world!" 

From the social intercourse of the delegates it 
soon became apparent that the rule, making non- 



RECOLLECTIONS. 279 

slave-holding a test of membership in the church, 
could not at that time be carried by the majorities 
required. Hence, all that could then be done was 
to see to it that our press was in the grasp of men 
who would express the views of the larger part of 
the church on the subject. 

While these things were being considered I was 
pleasantly surprised to find that Eev. H. Kequa, 
first reserve delegate from Wisconsin, a man who 
was true and staunch on the slavery question, had 
arrived, and would consent to serve the remainder 
of the session in my place. Therefore, in conse- 
quence of my wife's state of health, and assured 
that nothing would be lost to the church by my 
absence, I requested leave from the conference to 
return home, stating that Bro. Requa would take 
my place. My request was granted. But Bishop 
Janes came to me before I left and almost scolded 
me for asking permission to leave. Saying among 
other things that I was needed there; "Xo other 
man understands the work and wants of the upper 
Northwest as you do." And I may say, that had 
I known the bishop's views concerning myself be- 
fore asking to be excused, I think I should have 
remained until the close of the session. However, 
I was thankful to get home, and find my good wife's 
health much improved, and the children well. 

Everything was very lively that summer in Min- 
nesota. Immigrants were coming constantly. 
New counties were being organized. Cities and 
villages springing up as if by magic. Roads being 
laid out, and the country settling up in almost 



280 RECOLLECTIONS. 

every direction. The work on my charge was also 
prospering. Additions by letter were frequent, 
and probationers were received almost every week. 

Since we had now been set off as the "Minne- 
sota conference," including Minnesota and the 
northwest part of Wisconsin, it must needs be 
that we hold an annual conference of our own; 
which was arranged to meet at Red Wing, Sept. 
1856, for its first session. 

As Bishop Simpson, who. was to preside, was 
detained by low water, and the steamboat 
on which he was to arrive could not be 
heard from, on motion of C. Hobart, at 9 o'clock 
on the appointed morning, the conference was 
called to order; Rev. Jno. Kerns being elected 
bishop pro tern, and Rev. Jabez Brooks, secretary. 
We progressed fairly with our business until about 
eleven o'clock, when to our great joy, our anxious- 
ly expected Bishop Simpson arrived and took the 
chair. 

On Sabbath, the bishop preached from II. Thim. 
IV., 2: "Preach the Word." It was one of his 
grand sermons. And what an influence attended 
it and went out from it, all over our young 
conference! It was like a benediction, and was 
felt for many days, as an inspiration. 

I was returned to Red Wing for the second year, 
and entered upon my work with much to encour- 
age, and many to help me. 

On the 18th of September our youngest son was 
born. We named him, in memory of our esteemed 
friend Judge Thomas, of Jacksonville, 111., "Wil- 



KEOOLLECTIONS. 281 

liani Thomas." The judge, a noble son of the 
Methodist church and who was converted at her 
altar in his early manhood, has been for many 
years one of her pillars. And he has been this 
not more by his love for her and loyalty to her 
institutions, than by the honor reflected on her by 
his long life of unswerving integrity. Eighty 
years of unsullied rectitude, and occupying for 
many years, as he has, various prominent political 
positions; yet such have been his character and 
reputation for honesty, that his soubriquet of the 
"upright judge," is worthily bestowed. The 
higher the responsibilities with which Jndge 
Thomas has been invested, the more lustrously 
has shone the pure gold of faithfulness to the 
trusts reposed in him. He still lives and honors 
the church and her communion. 

Our dear little Willie, the judge's namesake al- 
though apparently bright and healthy at first, soon 
began to grow thin and feeble, and for a time it 
seemed as if we should not be able to keep him; 
but through the good providence of God and the 
care of Sister Samuel Spates and other friends, 
we succeeded in nourishing him back to health 
and strength. And we have had cause, ever since 
to be thankful that He who gave has spared to us a 
gift which has been one of the greatest earthly 
comforts of our lives. 

The winter of 1856-7 proved another very severe 
one; but the inclemency of the weather did not 
hinder our efforts in revival work. We were glad- 
dened with the conversion of about forty souls 

19 



282 RECOLLECTIONS. 

that winter most of whom remain until this day; 
but "some have fallen asleep." 

Again in the spring the tide of immigration set 
in, strongly; and property quadrupled in value, in 
about as many weeks, and money was abundant. 
Then it seemed necessary, and was deemed advis- 
able for us to build a church in Red Wing. For 
this purpose a subscription was circulated; a suffi- 
cient amount was raised, the contracts were let, 
and I spent a good portion of my time during the 
following summer in supervising our church 
building. 

At our conference the next fall, as my wife's 
health was too uncertain to justify me in moving 
her, I asked with great regret for a supernumerary 
relation, stating as my reason, that I was as well 
able to labor as ever, but that for my wife's sake I 
requested this relation. This was kindly granted, 
and for about ten days I was without work. At 
the expiration of that time Bro. T. M. Kirkpatrick, 
then my presiding elder, requested me to take 
charge of Lake City circuit, eighteen miles from 
Bed Wing. This work would permit me to be at 
home part of each week. Lake City had been 
united with Wabasha and Reed's Landing and to 
this Bro. E. Stevenson had been appointed. Soon 
he saw that Wabasha and Reed's Landing would de- 
mand his entire time ; and an earnest petition was 
sent tp the presiding elder, from preacher and peo- 
ple asking that Lake City should be provided for 
in some other way. This appointment to Lake 
City circuit was very satisfactory to myself and to 



EECOLLECTIONS. 283 

the people. I went directly to my work; and soon 
organized a charge with three appointments: 
Lake City, Florence, and Wacouta; with preaching 
occasionally at Central Point. 

In the fall of 1857, I organized the first class in 
Lake City, consisting of sixteen members; also a 
class in Florence, and held a protracted meeting 
there at which about fifteen were converted. 
Most of these have been steadfast and several of 
them remain worthy members of the church. 
The Lake City charge still remains one of the 
pleasant appointments of the conference, and it 
has been supplied by some of our best preachers. 

The money crash of 1857, came upon the coun- 
try in the midst of our prosperity; and greatly 
embarrassed our church enterprises. We had re- 
quested the bishops to change the time of our con- 
ference from fall to spring; consequently we met 
the following April in St. Paul. 

At this conference it was thought best to form 
that part of Wisconsin belonging to Minnesota, in- 
to a separate district to be called the Prescott dis- 
trict. To this I was appointed as presiding elder ; 
having thirteen charges, six of which were left to 
be supplied. This district extended from St. 
Croix Falls, to the mouth of the Black river, some 
two hundred miles in length, and as far east and 
north as the settlements had gone, and included 
all the inhabitants along the Trempeleau, Beef, 
Eau Claire, Chippewa, Menominee, Rush, Willow 
and Apple rivers, with their tributaries. 

The country was rough, almost mountainous, 



284 RECOLLECTIONS. 

thinly settled and most of it religiously un- 
organized. The roads were those made by lum- 
bermen; and with scarcely an exception, ran from 
points on the river back to the pineries. But 
there was work that needed to be done; the lost 
sheep were to be found; and I addressed myself to 
my Master's business, with all the strength and 
ability I knew how to exercise; and He helped me 
mightily. Three local preachers were put in 
charge of circuits ; two exhorters, Rev E. S. Havens 
and E. Doughty, both now with the hosts above, 
were licensed to preach, and put in charge of new 
work. Bro. J. S. Anderson responded to my call, 
through the "Northwestern Christian Advocate." 
So that in one way and another the work was sup- 
plied. One or two quarterly meetings had been held 
in the Chippewa valley, in the fall of 1857, by Rev. 
S. Bolles, presiding elder of St. Paul district, and a 
few sermons had been preached, but the work 
throughout was unorganized. But now "the time 
to favor Zion, the set time had come;" and from 
the first meeting held on the Prescott district, the 
work of salvation commenced. 

To tell of our blessed protracted meetings 
where souls were so wondrously converted; of our 
quarterly meetings, what seasons of refreshing 
they were, and of how the spirit of God was 
poured out at our camp-meetings, would fill a 
volume. We had three small churches, one at 
Hudson, one at Prescott and one at Pepin; and 
these furnished all the accommodation in that line 
which the district afforded. School houses with 



RECOLLECTIONS. 285 

such buildings as we could secure, and these often 
crowded almost to suffocation were thankfully 
made available. And when we could hold our 
services in a grove, or enjoy the privileges of a 
camp-meeting, we were glad indeed, and anxious 
to make the occasion as profitable as possible. 
At one of our camp-meetings, held on the River 
Falls charge, among the many hundreds present, 
were some leading Spiritists. 

On Sunday I preached from Rom. III., 1-2. 
"What advantage then hath the Jew? or what 
profit is there in circumcision ? much every way, 
chiefly, because unto them were committed the 
oracles of God." 

My object was to show that whoever observed 
the "oracles of God," as a rule of life profited 
much every way. In contrasting the clear and 
conclusive proofs in support of the Bible as an in- 
spired rule of life, with the absurd and unsatisfac- 
tory attempts to prove Mohammedanism, Shaker- 
ism, Mormonism, and Spiritism, to be such, I stat- 
ed that the adherents of the last, that is Spiritism, 
admitted that the spirits often lied; and therefore, 
I said, no one of common sense would depend for 
truth on such pretended revelations. To illustrate 
this I told the following annecdote. Not long 
since, in a neighboring state a seance was held, at 
which the spirit pf Tom Paine was called for. 
Answering to the call, this conversation occurred, 
between the inquirer and the spirit: 

"Are you Tom Paine?" 

"Yes!" 



286 EECOLLECTIONS. 

"Did you write the 'Age of Eeason?' " 

"Yes!" 

"Do you now believe what you then wrote?" 

"No!" 

"Do you now believe that the Bible is true, and 
that it is the word of God?" 

"Yes!" 

"Are you sorry you wrote against it?" 

"Yes!" 

The questioner was elated with the conversion 
of the noted infidel and related the conversation to 
a friend, who doubted that there had been any 
conversation with Tom Paine, and to convince him 
he went with his friend to the seance the next 
night. Tom Paine was called for by this gentle- 
man, who inquired: — 

"Are you Tom Paine?" 

"Yes!" 

"Did you write the 'Age of Reason?' " 

"Yes!" 

"Do you believe what you then wrote?" 

"Yes!" 

"Don't you now believe the Bible is true?" 

"No!" 

"Why, how is this, did you not say last night 
that you believed the Bible true, and that you 
were sorry that you wrote against it?" 

"Yes!" 

"Then why don't you say now what you said 
then?" 

"It's none of your business!" said the spirit. 

My large congregation, which had sat with sup- 



KECOLLEOTIONS. 287 

pressed breath and with intense interest, upon this 
denouement, burst into a roar of laughter that 
seemed infectious. I was not quite prepared for 
this outburst; had not intended to provoke laugh- 
ter. But in a moment recovering myself, I stated 
that I had not told this to excite their mirth, but 
to expose this abominable scheme of the devil to 
ruin souls. The smile passed away, and, regain- 
ing their seriousness and attention, the sermon 
continued in an earnest effort to set forth the 
glorious issue of a life, regulated by the word of 
God. 

When I had finished speaking, one of the Spirit- 
ists rose and inquired whether he might be allowed 
to answer the sermon. My reply was, "No, sir! 
This is a Methodist camp-meeting and its order 
cannot be interfered with. " 

A few weeks after this I was at River Falls, and 
was invited to dine with a gentleman, a former 
Milwaukee friend, (but who had turned Spiritist 
since, ) to meet, as I afterwards learned, this Spirit- 
ist inquirer of the camp-meeting. He took occa- 
sion to say to me, "I think you were too hard on 
me at the camp-meeting, in not permitting me to 
speak and defend Spiritism." 

"No!" I replied, "I only did what was right. 
That meeting had been published far and wide as 
a Methodist camp-meeting; hundreds of people 
had come to attend it, as such, and neither you nor 
any one else had any right to turn it into a public 
discussion on Spiritism. You have a right to ap- 
point and hold a Spiritist camp-meeting; and I, 



288 RECOLLECTIONS. 

if I please, nave a right to attend it, but when I 
am there I am under obligation to behave myself 
as a gentleman, and I have no right to disturb, or 
attempt to change, the order or plan of the meet- 
ing. If I should hear said at your meeting what 
I do ndt like, I can retire, but I have no right to 
interfere with those having the oversight of it. 
Neither did you at that camp-meeting! You were 
wrong, and I was right!" 

This ended the controversy on that point; and 
the hour or two ensuing was devoted to a discus- 
sion of Spiritism, in which I gave him the best 
logic that I had against that pernicious theory; 
and left him, I presume, as I found him, wilfully 
deluded. Although I ought to say, that I heard of 
no more converts to Spiritism in that neighbor- 
hood, while I visited it. 

The Spring Valley camp-meeting, at which this 
incident occurred, was of great spiritual benefit to 
those attending it. More than forty were con- 
verted, and good seed was sown, which was soon 
gathered by the "reapers" on the different charges 
represented. 

One good woman, of about thirty years, intelli- 
gent above the average, who had been a leader in 
the dancing parties and fashionable follies of the 
town where she lived, was gloriously converted; 
and after a time she rose to her feet from her 
knees, conscious that she had found a new life and 
new joys. She stood erect, looking at herself, 
surveying her feet, her hands, herself, and then in 
a tone of earnest wonderment, never to be forgot- 



RECOLLECTIONS. 289 

ten by those who heard, exclaimed, " Where have 
I been all my life? What have I been doing?" 

The following week the quarterly meeting for 
Bear creek charge was held; Rev. S. M. Webster, 
preacher. Among this class, made up of royal 
Methodists who valued the privileges of their "high 
calling," were Edmund Doughty and his wife, 
Aunt Fanny, and Henry Coleman and wife. 
These two families were related by marriage, and 
all the older children of both families were mem- 
bers of the church. The quarterly meeting was 
held in Maxwell's school house on the south side 
of the Chippewa river, ten miles from its mouth. 
It was a most excellent meeting. The presence 
and power of God were with us. On Sabbath 
evening fifteen were converted, and among them, 
Johnnie Doughty, the youngest son of Bro. E. 
Doughty. So rich was the blessing which little 
Johnnie found, that he made the school house ring 
again with his shouts, and then flew to the street 
which reverberated with his expressions of joy and 
praise. Bro. Webster continued this meeting un- 
til almost the entire valley of the Chippewa felt 
its influence. At Bock creek, fifty miles up; Fall 
creek, ten miles lower down; at Chippewa village, 
at the mouth of Bear creek; at a school house, six 
miles up the Bear creek valley; at Mondovia, on 
Beef river; and at the Bocks, three miles above 
Alma, on the Mississippi, scores were at each 
place converted. At Pepin, J. S. Anderson, pastor, 
over one hundred were converted. 

Bro. Anderson was mentally built for contro- 



290 EECOLLECTIONS. 

versy, and for this combativeness he found use, in 
the first winter of his itinerant life. An old Mor- 
mon, who had settled five miles back from Pepin, 
undertook to build up that faith by tearing down 
the Methodist church. There was also a "good 
brother," who had been sent to the village as a 
missionary of the "American Board," who thought 
it to be his duty to expose the errors of Armenian- 
ism. Both of these found to their cost that, "Pru- 
dence would have been the better part of valor," 
for a few broadsides from Bro. Anderson's battery 
soon silenced these controversialists. 

At Trimbelle circuit, S. N. Phelps, pastor, there 
were over a hundred converted; Prescott, A. D. 
Cunningham, nearly two hundred; at River Falls, 
Bro. Shelby, eighty; and at Pleasant Valley, Wil- 
low Kiver, Hudson and Osceola extensive revivals 
also occurred, where many were converted and 
added to the church. Most of these still adorn 
their profession. 

There are several things which were connected 
with these revivals which deserve to be recorded, 
as illustrating Divine co-operation in this great 
work: At the Point of Rocks, there lived a family, 
the parents of which had been members of our 
church in former years, and who asked that there 
might be preaching in their neighborhood; pro- 
posing to open their house for that purpose. Bro. 
Webster arranged for preaching there, and after a 
time planned to hold also a series of evening 
meetings. At the appointed time Bro. Web- 
ster, accompanied by his wife, and Bro. E. S. 



EECOLLECTIONS. 291 

Havens and wife, arrived, he (Bro. Webster) was 
so ill that he could not conduct the meeting. 
What was to be done ? A house full of people had 
gathered and the services could not be postponed. 
Bro. E. S. Havens had only just been licensed; had 
never conducted a meeting; had only attempted to 
preach once or twice, and was one of the most 
timid and self -distrustful of men — and yet there 
was nothing for him to do but to preach; and 
he and the two ladies had to bear the burden 
of the meeting. With much trembling he 
took his text; but as he proceeded he received 
such a baptism that he was lifted far above him- 
self, and preached the word with such mighty 
power, that men and women were convicted; seek- 
ers came forward and sinners were converted. 

To appreciate the Divine power of that hour it 
will have to be stated that the most of those that 
night brought under the influence of the Gospel, 
and who cried to God for pardon, were among the 
roughest specimens of humanity; the men being 
nearly a]l raftsmen, rivermen, and lumbermen. 
Many of these had brought their families on large 
hand-sleds over the ice. One man who had been 
powerfully convicted, and had been at the mourn- 
ers' bench praying for pardon, had a wife who was 
present, and who remained unmoved — was angry 
and sullen because her husband had gone for- 
ward. 

Sister Webster had done what she could to per- 
suade the woman to seek the Lord with her hus- 
band, but she decidedly and angrily refused. 



292 RECOLLECTIONS. 

Sister Webster then asked if she would kneel where 
she was and let her pray for her. To which she 
indignantly replied: — 

"No: I wont!" 

"Well," she was asked, "will you not pray for 
yourself?" 

"No," she answered, in the roughest kind of way, 
"I don't know how to pray, and don't want to!" 

At the close of the meeting, this family, the 
father, mother and little eight-year-old daughter, 
started for home; the father taking the woman and 
child up the slough on the ice. They had not 
gone far when he walked over a place, where the 
ice had been taken out a day or two before, and on 
which a thin crust had then formed and a light 
snow fallen. As soon as the sled reached the thin 
ice, it gave way and all went through. The child 
and sled went out of sight; the man and woman 
caught by their hands on the thick ice and clung 
there. Their loud cries attracted the attention of 
those who were behind and assistance was soon at 
hand, but before help could arrive this obdurate 
woman had learned how to pray; and with an 
earnestness that was heard by many at a distance 
promised the Lord that if He would save her life, 
and send them help, she would be a Christian. 
They were taken out and brought to the nearest 
house. The child was found clinging, though un- 
conscious, to her mother's skirt. This woman was 
afterwards soundly converted and united with the 
church, and remained steadfast as long as I knew 
of her. 



RECOLLECTIONS. 293 

Another case occurred at Durand, which was 
then a small village on the Chippewa. Here we 
had a few members and a fine stone school house, 
which furnished the best accommodation for 
preaching in the valley. After having held several 
successful meetings in the adjoining neighbor- 
hoods, we thought to have a meeting at Durand. 
As soon as this was noised abroad, the devil took 
the alarm and stirred up his children to prevent, 
if possible, the holding of a revival meeting. The 
principal leader in this opposition was an unmar- 
ried man of about thirty-five, a Mr. Foster. This 
man, when he learned that the meetings had been 
appointed, swore a fearful oath that there should 
be neither meeting nor revival there, if he could 
prevent it. Accordingly, he called to his assist- 
ance a number of his associates and together they 
circulated invitations for a grand ball for the 
whole Chippewa valley, to be held at Durand and 
at the time of the announced protracted meeting. 
Bro. Webster and the brethren who were making 
the arrangements, being made aware of this, 
thought it best that the meeting should be re-called 
for a time at least, and see what would come of it. 

The ball came off, as per printed notice; and Mr. 
Foster was much elated over his success in break- 
ing up the meeting. I think it was less than two 
weeks afterwards, when one morning, this man 
at breakfast, at his boarding house was observed 
by his landlady to look unusually sad, and gloomy ; 
and she began to inquire as to the cause. With 
some hesitation of manner he replied by asking if 



294 RECOLLECTIONS. 

she believed in dreams, and then told her that the 
night before he had dreamed that an angel came 
to him and said: "Within three days your body will 
be burned to death, and your soul will be sent to 
helir On the third morning after this conversa- 
tion, he did not come as usual to breakfast, nor 
make his appearance. His store in which he slept 
remaining closed, was during the day forcibly 
opened; and he was found on the floor burned to 
death. 

I came into the village the morning after he was 
buried, and this account of the sad occurrence I 
had from several who knew the facts. 

Spring, and the consequent breaking up of the 
river, was too near at hand, to allow us to 
hold a meeting at that place immediately after 
this. But there was no more organized opposition. 
And the success of the preachers in that town and 
neighborhood has since been encouraging. 

The Trimbelle charge, Bro. S. N. Phelps, pastor, 
was one of the points alluded to, which was so 
specially blessed by revival influence and the con- 
version of more than a hundred. Yet, so great 
was the pressure in money matters, and so little 
had as yet been raised by the people on the circuit 
for their own support that a number of the breth- 
ren thought it hardly right to have Bro. Phelps 
remain, and suffer as he must needs do, without 
sufficient support from them. With great reluc- 
tance they made the state of the case known to 
their pastor, to whom they would willingly have 
given generously had it been in their power. 



RECOLLECTIONS. 295 

Their solicitude for him, and their desire that if 
he could be better cared for at some other point in 
the church, he should feel free to leave the Trim- 
belle charge, only fired the heart of this good man 
with renewed courage and determination. He felt 
that he was in his place and at his work, and need 
take no anxious care for the morrow. 

I do not know whether there came to his soul 
then, the assurance that has since that time in so 
many distresses cheered and comforted him, and 
which I have heard him utter when in the deep 
waters of trial, that "the Master makes no mis- 
takes." But I do know that he told those brethren 
that he had been appointed to that charge, and 
on that charge he should stay until conference, if 
life and health were spared; pay or no pay. Stay 
he did, and suffer he did, doubtless. But the 
Master's eye was on him, and the brethren were 
able to do better than they feared. So God some- 
times opens a way in the desert. He preached 
salvation to them from a heart that knew whereof 
he spoke, and many were saved and remain to 
witness to his faithfulness. 

Our conference met this year at St. Anthony in 
the spring of 1859. Bishop Baker presided. I 
had frequently at our own conferences tried, as 
best I could, to set forth the needs of this north- 
west part of Wisconsin, pleading for men and 
money to carry on the work. But the presiding 
elders who were the "missionary committee," were 
so impressed with their own necessities that I had 
had but poor success, and no better this year. 



296 RECOLLECTIONS. 

And so we all went to work again to do what we 
could, though sometimes it looked as if we were 
trying to "make bricks without straw." 

This conference year was only six months long, 
the brethren having concluded that spring con- 
ferences were not well suited to this latitude. Wil- 
low river, Rev. Thomas Harwood, (now superin- 
tendent of our mission in New Mexico), and Pres- 
cott circuit, J. S. Anderson, were greatly blessed 
during our short year with revivals. The work 
continued to prosper on the Trempeleau and 
Galesville charges. 

October, 1859, conference met at Prescott; Bishop 
Janes, presiding. This conference was remarkable 
for its spirit of devotion, and for the manifestation 
of God's power and mercy to both preachers and 
people. 

The bishop preached on Sunday with wonderful 
unction, from Jno. I., 14: "And the Word was 
made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld 
His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the 
Father,) full of grace and truth." 

His theme, divine and human co-operation, in 
the world's salvation. His propositions were: 
God working — God working with man. God 
working with man for man. 

To describe the influence and effect of that 
sermon would be impossible. To tell how the 
words seemed to move and melt the souls of 
the great audience, and how his lips seemed in- 
deed touched, as with living "fire from off the 
altar," as he told us of the boundless love, of the 



KECOLLEOTIONS. 297 

infinite mercy, and unmeasured tenderness of God. 
How lie made us to see the honor and the glory 
with which he encircles those who in the wonder- 
ful plan of redemption become co-workers with 
Christ in the salvation of the human race. And 
how he took us to the Celestial City, and led us 
round among the angelic hosts, until with them we 
fell upon our faces and worshiped with hallelujahs 
to Him that liveth for ever and ever, and who is 
"worthy to receive blessing and glory and wisdom 
and thanksgiving and power and might," would 
be impossible. But we felt as though we had 
had a glimpse into the glory land, and could join 
the angelic host as many of us did in songs of 
salvation and shouts of grateful praise to Him 
who "had loved us and given Himself for us." 

To write this, to tell it, gives but a faint idea of 
its effect. It was as if Heaven had come into our 
hearts and we had been caught up to the place 
where the things of earth are too small to obscure 
our vision of celestial and eternal realities. 

At this conference B. R Crary, C. Hobart, and 
Cyrus Brooks were elected delegates to represent 
the Minnesota conference in the General con- 
ference to be held at Buffalo in May, 1860. 

On the first round on my district after con- 
ference, I started off with a horse and buggy to 
visit that part of the work lying within and 
south of the Chippewa valley. I crossed the Mis- 
sissippi at Reed's Landing and held the quarterly 
meeting at Pepin; then over the hills, twenty 
miles, to Round Hill ferry on the Chippewa; down 

20 , 



298 RECOLLECTIONS. 

on the south side of the river to Maxwell's school 
house, where I was royally entertained as usual, 
at Bro. Colman's. 

The next day I started for Trempeleau circuit, 
some fifty miles down the Mississippi on the east 
side. I found a passable road for thirty five-miles, 
along the bottom under the bluff, until I reached 
Fountain City. There I climbed the bluff, nearly 
six hundred feet high, and was then left to follow 
my own judgment as to the course, for I could 
find no one who had been through to Trempeleau. 
Of one thing I was certain, that the point I de- 
sired to make was about twenty-five miles a 
little east of south, and I learned that a 
few persons had been through, so I pushed on, 
taking such roads as seemed to lead the nearest in 
the right direction. I spent that night at the 
house of a new settler twelve miles east of Wi- 
nona, who with his family, appeared very much 
pleased that a preacher had found them. In the 
morning my host spoke very doubtfully as to the 
probability of my being able to get through. 
He had only known of one or two who had come 
from Tre?npeleau that way, and they had each 
been on horseback. But I could not then afford 
to turn back; so I determined to try and reach my 
appointment, at least not to give it up until I was 
obliged to. 

After going about ten miles through an oak 
forest, I came to the top of a bluff down which a 
wagon or buggy had never gone. I drove slowly 
down the slope until I reached the steepest part, 



RECOLLECTIONS. 299 

which was a descent of more than a hundred feet, 
at an angle of about forty-five degrees. Here I 
stopped; got out, and, taking the lines, steadied 
the buggy as well as I could, and we began to go 
down, down, down. We had proceeded about twenty 
feet when both horse and driver began to slide, 
owing partly to the thick bed of leaves which 
slipped with our every motion. By this time the 
horse was almost sitting on his haunches, and I 
did not dare to let go the lines. So we went down 
together, much more rapidly than we desired, yet 
as slowly as we could; and reached the bottom, al- 
most miraculously, in safety. Thankful for this 
merciful deliverance from what might have been a 
serious accident, I drove on and soon came to a 
trail leading me up the Trempeleau river, to the 
village of Old Dandy. (Dandy was chief of the 
last band of the Winnebagoes that left Wiscon- 
sin. ) Here I found a ford, which was only a trail, 
across the Trempeleau. With a good deal of care I 
managed to get down the steep four-foot bank, and 
with still more care, succeeded in keeping the 
wheels of the buggy level while going over, and 
came out all right. Two hours after, I reached the 
settlement where our quarterly meeting was to be 
held, and surprised everybody, when I told them 
that I had driven a buggy through from Fountain 
City. 

We had a good meeting, and on Tuesday, I 
started for Arcadia, twenty miles up the Trempe- 
leau, in a northeasterly direction, over a rough 
mountainous road. I reached the place safely; 



300 KECOLLECTIONS. 

rested over night and on the next day, thirty miles 
further on, made the point at which the quarterly 
meeting for the Arcadia charge was held. Here 
we had a blessed time, and the rain of salvation 
came down upon our hearts, as "rain upon the 
mown grass." 

My next appointment was at Mondovia. I 
drove on twenty miles up the Trempeleau; then 
twenty-five miles along the old Black river trail 
to the head of Beef river; then down that stream 
about thirty miles, to Mondovia. At this point we 
had a warm hearted society, the fruit of a revival 
held by Bro. Webster, and others, the winter be- 
fore. Our meeting was a very encouraging one, 
and greatly helped the membership. 

My next appointment was on the Bear creek 
charge and led me through that beautiful and re- 
markable formation, known as Bear Valley. This 
valley lies between the Beef and Chippewa rivers 
and is about twenty miles long. Half way be- 
tween these two rivers, in the middle of the valley, 
is a tamarack swamp; out of it runs a creek each 
way, one into the Beef and the other into the Chip- 
pewa. Our quarterly meeting was held here and 
as this was the last one to be held on that round, 
I blessed the Lord for the way in which He 
had led me, took courage, and set my face toward 
home. Beached it safely, having been absent 
about four weeks, and having traveled about four 
hundred miles; and though weary, I was thankful 
for the privilege of laboring for the Master in a 



RECOLLECTIONS. 301 

field so rough and hard that few would be willing 
to cultivate it. 

The winter of 1859-60, although cold, was not so 
severe as the preceeding two had been, and I was 
able to meet all my appointments. This winter a 
new charge was formed on the Chippewa river, 
above Eau Claire, with Chippewa City as its center. 
This included Bloomer Prairie, Duncan's Creek, 
and one or two other places; Rev. Thomas Har- 
wood, preacher. Here several classes were formed 
and a good work begun. 

Having held the quarterly meeting at Pepin, 
I remained until Wednesday, assisting in a 
revival of great power. While there, the 
weather had turned very cold and I had wrapped 
up as closely as I could, only leaving enough of 
my face uncovered to see my horse. I had a ride 
of twenty-eight miles, and when I reached home, 
found that a narrow angling strip across my face 
was frozen. It turned brown and then peeled off; 
was somewhat painful and caused no small amuse- 
ment to my friends, from the odd appearance it 
gave me. 

About the 25th of April, I took the steamboat 
for Galena, on my way to Buffalo. Had a delight- 
ful visit in Chicago with my friend, Wm. Wheeler, 
then of Trinity church. While there, Bro. 
Wheeler received a letter from his time-honored 
friend, Bro. Jackson, of Hamilton, Canada, asking 
him to try and secure three of the delegates to the 
General conference, to remain in Hamilton over 
Sunday and occupy its three Methodist churches. 



302 RECOLLECTIONS. 

At Bro. Wheeler's request I consented to be one 
of the three, and assisted him in securing, as the 
others, Dr. B. F. Crary and Be v. Bichard Har- 
grave, of Indiana. 

Taking the Michigan Central railroad we were 
met at the depot by Bro. Jackson, and were most 
elegantly entertained at his home; and we did 
what we could for the good people of Hamilton, in 
the way of preaching. 

Monday morning we took the cars and soon found 
ourselves in the fine city of Buffalo. I was the 
guest of Captain May while in the city; and had 
for my room-mate, Bev. Jacokes, of Michigan. Our 
host was both jolly and companionable; enjoying 
a joke as well, I think, as any sailor who ever trod 
the quarter-deck. 

After organization I was put on the committee 
on boundaries, and on a large judicial committee 
of one from each delegation, to hear and determine 
the complaints, brought against the administration 
of Bishop Ames, by Bev. Seth Mattson; also to 
hear and determine the appeals of Bevs. Boberts, 
McCartney and others, from the decisions of the 
Gennesse conference, which finally resulted in the 
formation of the Free Methodist church ; also to 
take action in regard to an Episcopal decision of 
Bishop Simpson, which virtually allowed the 
preachers in charges to exclude members from the 
church, without trial. The final action of the 
judicial committee, and of the General conference, 
on these cases, was the reversal of Bishop Simp- 
son's Episcopal decisions; the confirmation of the 



RECOLLECTIONS. 303 

action of the Gennesse conference ; and the acquit- 
tal of Bishop Ames. 

But the absorbing theme of interest and discus- 
sion was slavery, as it existed in the Methodist 
Episcopal church. This, as a subject of thought, 
dominated everything else. A large committee 
was appointed, of which Calvin Kingsley was 
chairman. To this committee were referred all 
petitions on that question. We were not long in 
ascertaining that while a majority of the confer- 
ence was in favor of making slaveholding a test of 
membership, yet, as in the conference of 1856, we 
had not a two-thirds majority; consequently we 
could not alter the Restrictive Rule, permitting 
members to hold slaves in states where the laws 
would not tolerate emancipation. The best thing, 
and all that we of the anti-slavery majority could 
do, was again to see that our editors and the 
bishops, to be elected, were of pronounced and ad- 
vanced views on the iniquity of American slavery. 
When the report of the committee on slavery was 
brought in, full time was given for its discussion. 

Dr. James Floy, of New York, and C. Kingsley, 
of Erie or Pittsburgh, led. Many others followed, 
who were in favor of the adoption of the report 
which denounced slavery as "the sum of all vil- 
lanies;" and stated that the intention of the M. E. 
church was to free herself from it. Norval Wil- 
son and Henry Slicer, of Baltimore, and Peter 
Cartwright, of Illinois, with several who spoke 
after them, opposed the report. Wilson of Balti- 
more, told us, "that if that report should be adopted, 



304 RECOLLECTIONS. 

the part of the Baltimore conference which he 
represented, lying in the State of Virginia, would 
be compelled to leave the Methodist church, and 
join the church south." But the report was 
adopted, nevertheless, and by a very decided ma- 
jority. When we came to the election of editors, 
the same difficulty, in character, had to be en- 
countered and overcome. 

Four years before, Dr. Abel Stevens had been 
taken from the editorship of "Zion's Herald," and 
placed in charge of "The Christian Advocate and 
Journal." This had been done on account of his 
well-known and frequently expressed anti-slavery 
principles. But strangely enough, a four years' 
.residence in the city of New York and among its 
conservative influences, had so changed his views 
on the question of slavery that he was no longer a 
fit representative of the ideas of the advanced 
thinkers, nor indeed of the majority of the church, 
on this vital question. Hence, his removal was 
determined upon. A telegram sent from the seat of 
the General conference, brought a delegation of 
some thirty Methodists from New York, headed by 
the venerable Dr. Nathan Bangs, whose business 
was to say to the committee and to the conference, 
that as it was the local paper of that state, New 
York claimed the right to say who should edit "The 
Christian Advocate and Journal." They stated 
further, that they desired Dr. Abel Stevens as 
editor; and if he were not elected, that they could 
and would raise thirty thousand dollars at once and 
start another church paper, which would crowd out 



RECOLLECTIONS. 305 

"The Christian Advocate and Journal," and kill it. 
Notwithstanding these strong words, Dr. E. 
Thompson was elected editor of "The Christian 
Advocate;" but, according to their threat, the New 
York Methodists went home and raised the thirty 
thousand dollars and started the "Methodist." 
But it did not kill off "The Christian Advocate," 
which still lives and prospers grandly. 

It was at this conference that the subject of lay 
delegation came up for action. This was strongly 
urged by Dr. Durbin, Bishop Simpson and others of 
influence. But as the petitions from the churches 
stood ninety for and one hundred and twenty-five 
against (as I recollect), there was no change made. 
On this subject the action of the conference was 
kind and conciliatory. 

Bro. Xorval Wilson had brought with him to 
conference, from Virginia, a servant, legally a 
slave, but practically a free man, known as "Uncle 
Tom," a local preacher. I greatly desired that 
this man should have an opportunity to speak, 
and for this purpose requested the committee on 
public worship to appoint "Uncle Tom" to preach 
at the colored church, on the next Sabbath. This 
was so arranged, and on Sabbath morning several 
of the delegates with myself enjoyed hearing him. 
At the close of the sermon, a brother, the pastor of 
the church, came to me and requested that I would 
preach for them at 3 p. M. I consented and the 
announcement was made accordingly. But in the 
afternoon I had scarcely been seated in the pulpit, 
before, to my surprise, I saw Captain May (my 



306 RECOLLECTIONS. 

host) and his family, and about a dozen or more 
of the delegates with several whites, come in. 

I took for my text: "For I know that my Be- 
deemer liveth," (Job XIX., 24-27.) and did the best 
I could. Toward the conclusion of the sermon and 
while speaking of the Christian's hope, and of the 
prospect of reunion with the loved beyond the 
grave, quite a number of the elderly colored sisters 
began to shout. In a moment more they were out 
of their seats, and up and down the aisles 
they went, clapping their hands and shouting, 
"Glory! Glory!" This did not trouble me at 
all. It seemed like good old western style, such 
as I had seen and heard hundreds of times. But 
it greatly interested and amused Captain May. 
He thought he had a good joke on me, and in- 
sisted as long as I remained, that I must be a Free 
Methodist in disguise. He took occasion to tell 
the friends who visited the house, over and over 
again, with much enjoyment, about my preaching 
for the colored people, and setting them all to 
shouting. So the joy of the good old colored 
sisters became the source of many pleasantries 
from him, at my expense. 

At this conference I heard Bishop Morris preach 
the funeral sermon of Bishop Waugh. This he 
did in his own clear-cut style, with scarcely a 
redundant word or phrase. In speaking of the 
toils and responsibilities of a Methodist bishop, he 
observed in his quiet, humorous way, "That how- 
ever great they were, there were still several good 
men and brethren to be found in the church, who 



RECOLLECTIONS. 307 

were willing to endure even this heavy burden." 
This elicited a responsive smile; which so dis- 
turbed a good brother from Maine, a spiritual dys- 
peptic, who sat by my side, that he exclaimed in a 
loud whisper, "Oh! oh! that's too bad! too bad!" 

When the report of the committee on Sunday 
schools was under discussion, about the close of 
the session, after editors and agents had been 
elected and the business nearly concluded, Bro. 
Biglow, fearing that a certain motion to which he 
was opposed would pass, moved a call of the house. 
This was ordered, and when made, showed that 
there was not a quorum present. This annoyed 
Bishop Janes so much that he expressed his dis- 
pleasure quite decidedly. Some one remarked that 
there were, no doubt, a majority of the members in 
the city. "They might as well be in France!" 
replied the bishop. "Nothing more can be done." 
And nothing more was done, except the reading of 
the journal and adjournment. The fact was that 
those who lived only a few hours ride' distant, had 
taken the cars for home; but, so far as I know, 
every western man was in his place. 

After the adjournment the Minnesota delegation 
returned home together, via Niagara, Detroit, 
Grand Haven, Milwaukee and La Crosse. Finding 
all well, I rested one day at home and then took 
the road for my district. 

During a camp-meeting, held that summer near 
the mouth of Bear creek on the Chippewa, some 
effort was found necessary to maintain good 
order. About thirty had been converted, and 



308 RECOLLECTIONS. 

the meeting was progressing. On Saturday 
morning, while at breakfast, eight men from 
the pineries came, bringing a cloth tent, which 
they put up directly in front of the "stand," 
and not more than thirty feet from it; and then 
two of them immediately began a game of cards 
therein. As soon as I came to the "stand" and 
saw what had been done and what they were doing, 
I went to them, and remembering that "a soft 
answer turneth away wrath," told them kindly 
what the order of our meeting was, and that all 
inside the circle of the tents was our church; that 
I believed there was not a lumberman in all the 
pineries, who was not too manly and top honorable 
to think of disturbing a religious meeting. I told 
them also that many of their fathers and mothers 
and sisters were good Methodists; that we were 
very willing that they should put up their tent in 
a proper place and stay with us and enjoy the 
meetings, etc. To all that I said they quietly 
assented; removed their tent, and all trouble and 
disturbance from that source ended from that time. 

The Monday preceding the meeting of the 
Xorthwest Wisconsin conference, it was arranged 
that Bishop Scott should join us at Trempeleau, 
where I had just held a quarterly meeting. On 
Tuesday about eight of us, in company with the 
bishop, drove to Sparta. We had a rough ride of 
forty miles but came through all safely. 

During our ride and while talking over the work 
of the district and of the conference, I remarked 
to the bishop, in reference to the changes of con- 



KECOLLECTIONS. 309 

ferences which I had been called to make, that "I 
would prefer now to remain in the Minnesota con- 
ference," and hoped that I should not have to 
change again. To this the bishop quietly said: 
"Well, Bro. Hobart, you will hav-3 to change once 
more. You must go into the new Northwest Wis- 
consin conference. You are needed there. This 
work which you are on now goes into that, and you 
cannot be spared from it." 

This new conference had been made by the 
action of the late General conference at Buffalo. 
Numerous petitions had been sent to that body, ask- 
ing that a new conference should be formed from 
the territory included in the Prescott district, Min- 
nesota conference ; and the La Crosse district, West 
Wisconsin conference, and extend north so as to 
include Ashland, Bayfield and Superior City, on 
Lake Superior. This movement originated with 
Judge Gale who had contributed liberally to the 
establishment of a university at Galesville, to be 
under the control and patronage of the M. E. church. 
His reason was that as the Minnesota conference 
was pledged to Hamline university, and the Wis- 
consin conferences to Lawrence university, the 
Galesville university would stand a better chance 
of support if it could have around it a conference 
interested in its welfare. 

My acquaintance with Judge Gale commenced 
in 1847, when I was on the Racine district. We 
were both from Vermont; and not far from the 
same age. He was a promising young lawyer, 
well read in his profession; a graduate of the 



310 RECOLLECTIONS. 

university at Burlington, Vermont and noted for 
his candor, ability, and moral integrity. In 1850, 
we met again near La Crosse, where he had opened 
an office. Here I had the pleasure of mentioning 
him as a suitable man for circuit judge and re- 
joiced when he was elected. This office he filled 
with credit to himself and satisfactorily to his 
friends He was an energetic, active, public spirit- 
ed man ; and lived and died a member of the M. E. 
church. And our friendship was warm and sin- 
cere. 

It was also thought that as the territory includ- 
ed in these two districts was so extensive, and 
necessarily separated in interest, somewhat, from 
the respective conference to which they had be- 
longed and needed great care and labor for 
their development, their formation into a con- 
ference, would give them an increased supply of 
men and money. 

Being a member of the committee on boun- 
daries in the General conference, I had there stated 
all these facts; and had used what influence I 
could to have this conference formed. This I did 
because I knew so well the needs of the work 
which I there represented; being at the time a 
member of the Minnesota conference and desirous 
to remain identified with it. 

During the following winter, the weather was 
such that I could only reach my appointments by 
traveling on horseback. In February, beginning 
at the lower end of the district, I held my quarter- 
ly meetings -for Trempeleau and Galesville ; then 



RECOLLECTIONS. 311 

on to the head of Beef river, striking the Chip- 
pewa a little below Eau Claire. I held a quarterly 
meeting at Fall Creek; and on Monday morning 
started for North Pepin. But on reaching the 
Chippewa, at the mouth of Bear creek, I found the 
river had risen so as to leave the open water one 
hundred feet from the shore on each side, while 
the ice was very solid in the middle. To get 
across with my horse was impossible. So I re- 
mained and held the quarterly meeting for the 
charge at this point, although it was two weeks 
earlier than they had expected it, hoping that by 
the following Monday the river would be so that I 
could cross either on the ice or by ferry. But 
there was no change by Monday morning. It was 
still impossible to cross. Yet I felt that some- 
thing ought to be done. Obtaining the assistance 
of four men we went to work to saw the river in two 
— for in some way, I must cross that river, and be at 
my work. We sawed and hewed and shoved and 
floated the loosened ice, for three days and a half, 
and by Thursday noon had succeeded in opening 
a passage for the ferry boat, on which with my 
horse I crossed, and, riding twenty-five miles, 
reached Pepin. 

This feat of sawing the Chippewa river in two, 
was not only a difficult but a dangerous undertak- 
ing. Could we have been furnished with ice saws 
or with any suitable instruments or tools, our 
work, though still difficult, would have been easier. 
But to open a clear passage through solid ice, a 
quarter oE a mile across and about two feet thick, 



312 KECOLLECTIONS. 

with an old cross cut saw, a crow bar and some 
axes, and at the same time in momentary dread of 
the cracking of the ice above, and its closing on 
us, was then and as I recall it now, quite romantic 
enough to be worth the telling, and remembering 
for some time. From Pepin, after a hard ride of 
fifty miles over the hills, and the greater part of 
the way without a road, heading around to cross 
the streams, I reached Prescott within one minute 
of the time for my next quarterly meeting. There 
were already quite a number in the church and 
others were gathering and about to enter, as I rode 
up to the door. 

All through the following summer, political 
agitation and the threats of national dis- 
ruption hung like a dark cloud over the land. 
Stephen A. Douglas had undertaken to ride into 
the presidential chair on his hobby of squatter 
sovereignty. The North had determined on no 
more slave territory; while the South demanded, 
as their right, to take their slaves anywhere in the 
United States just as freely as they might take 
their horses or their dogs. And to add to the 
complications and excitement — three different 
presidential candidates made party spirit intole- 
rant and rampant. But after a hotly contested 
political campaign, Abraham Lincoln was elected; 
and the South foresaw that unless something des- 
perate and daring was speedily effected by them, 
the sentiment of the North and West would over- 
throw their cherished prestige and institutions. 
And not long after, the first gun was fired on Fort 



RECOLLECTIONS. 313 

Sumpter, from a Rebel battery, and war was in- 
evitable. Unfortunately, the occupant of the 
executive chair had weakly permitted the Treasury 
to be depleted in the interest of the South. The 
army was scattered, and the navy had been mostly 
sent to foreign ports, through the same influence. 
Congressmen and senators from the southern 
states had been with one hand drawing their pay 
as the maintainers of the Constitution, and with 
the other had been doing all that they knew how 
to do, to weaken and destroy the power of the 
Government. 

September, 1861, our small but spirited con- 
ference met at Galesville ; Bishop Baker, presiding. 
And it was, after much careful planning, divided 
into three districts: La Crosse, T. E. Golden, pre- 
siding elder; Chippewa, C. Hobart; and Prescott, 
Wm. Hamilton. 

I had completed the first round on my district 
and was just ready to set out on my second, when 
I received a telegram informing me that I had 
been elected chaplain of the Third Minnesota re- 
giment, and must be ready to join it at Red Wing, 
on its way to Louisville, Kentucky, in twenty-four 
hours. 

Unexpected as was this summons, the duty of 

the hour seemed very plain. I wrote to all my 

preachers, also to Bishop Baker, and to Rev. James 

Gurley, and requested the latter to superintend 

the work for me, until some arrangement should 

be made for the district by the bishop. And then 

needful preparations were soon made. My joining 
21 



314 RECOLLECTIONS. 

the army was regarded by my wife and myself 
more especially as duty at that time, because our 
eldest son Joseph, only eighteen, was already en- 
listed as a volunteer and belonged to Captain 
Shelley's company of the Fifth Iowa cavalry, and 
we hoped that I might be near enough to him to 
have some guardianship over him. 

About sundown on the evening designated, with 
Company E., Captain Gurney, we took the boat; 
and amid cheers and tears, hurrahs and sighs, and 
the hopes and fears of the loving hearts who came 
to say farewell to us, we made for the seat of war. 
Beaching Louisville, we found General Buell in 
command; forming the arrivals as rapidly as pos- 
sible into brigades and divisions, while the larger 
part of the army had been sent forward to dif- 
ferent points on the railroad towards Nashville. 

We had been in camp about a week, when we 
were ordered to guard the railroad, leading to 
Nashville, from Shephardsville on Salt river, to 
Elizabethtown, a distance of about sixty miles. 
Head-quarters for our regiment were established 
at Belmont Furnace, five miles from Salt river, 
christened by Colonel Lester, "Camp Dana," and 
we occupied positions along the road. 

Here we spent the winter of 1861-2, keeping up 
regular drill and camp duties with five companies 
in camp, while the other five were guarding the 
road, these companies alternating each week. As 
Kentucky winters are made up of raining, driz- 
zling, freezing, snowing, sleeting and thawing, 
with a mixture of mud and sunshine, we went 



RECOLLECTIONS. 315 

through with what is known as the "seasoning 
process," and the feeble ones were soon in the 
hospital or discharged. However, our regiment 
fared much better than many others, which spent 
that winter in Kentucky, having about twenty 
small frame houses which were utilized as bar- 
racks, and a church which was converted into a 
hospital. 

The measles broke out largely in the army that 
winter. We had one hundred and ninety cases 
of which we lost but six, while many other regi- 
ments buried from fifty to a hundred and fifty. 
In caring for the sick, going back and forth to 
Louisville for such supplies as they required for 
nourishment, preaching on the Sabbath, holding 
prayer meetings Thursday evenings, and burying 
the dead — I was kept busily employed. We also 
had daily prayer at dress parade; and I wish to 
say that at each of the graves of the boys whom I 
buried, I erected a head board, which I made my- 
self, of white oak; charring the end driven into 
the ground, and placing in the center the name, 
age, regiment, and company of the deceased. 

December 24, I was called on by a Mr. Leslie 
of Lebanon Junction, a staunch Union man, to per- 
form the marriage ceremony for his daughter, Miss 
Catherine A. to Mr. J. R. Hale. Miss Catherine 
having declared, that no "Secesh minister" should 
ever marry her! And to make the matter sure, 
she had persuaded her father to come over to the 
Union camp and see if the chaplain would come 
and marry them. To this I had not the least ob- 



316 RECOLLECTIONS. 

jection, was on hand at the appointed time, and in 
the presence of a large company, united, as securely 
as the Ritual would permit, the happy couple. I 
was hospitably entertained over night, and re- 
turned safely to camp the next morning; although 
I was not unaware that I was in danger, at any 
moment, of being made a target for a Kebel bullet. 

In January, 1862, in company with several of 
the officers, I was invited to dine at the home of 
Mr. Patterson, principal owner of Belmont 
Furnace. This gentleman claimed to be a strong 
Union man although a wealthy slaveholder. 
After an elegantly served dinner, I baptized the 
youngest child, a babe of five months. 

I usually stayed, when in Louisville, by urgent 
invitation, with Rev. Wm. Holman and lady, where 
I received a brotherly welcome. Soon after our 
first meeting, we found that we had many mutual 
acquaintances and when Bro. Holman learned that 
Revs. Peter Cartwright and Peter Akers were old 
and dear friends of mine, he took me to his heart 
as a brother to be trusted in. Our intercourse 
during those turbulent times is a pleasant mem- 
ory. 

I was in Louisville on February 16th, when 
news of the capture of Fort Donaldson was re- 
ceived; and was the first to bring in the report of 
it to our camp. While walking, that morning in 
the city, a lady came toward me from the opposite 
side of the street. As she approached she ex- 
claimed aloud, with flashing eyes and indignant 
manner, "It isn't true! I don't believe a word of 



EECOLLECTIONS. 317 

it! I won't believe it! It hasn't been captured!" 
To which I could not resist the impulse of saying, 
as we came face to face, "It is true, madam, every 
word, as you will find!" To say that she looked 
"daggers" at me is, altogether, too mild a way of 
putting it. She looked as if she would have 
enjoyed annihilating me. 

It was soon after this that one of our soldiers be- 
came earnestly and seriously anxious about his 
soul's salvation. He came and stated his case to 
me and his difficult point was, whether he could 
be converted while in the army. After explaining 
to him that if the cause for which a man was fight- 
ing were a just one, and he were there faithfully 
doing his duty, that a soldier was as near right in 
the army as he would be anywhere. I told him a] so 
that if he would then and there surrender himself 
unconditionally to Christ, to be an obedient cross 
bearing Christian forever, whether in the army or 
at home, he would find that Christ would accept 
him in the pardon of his sins, right there. Encour- 
aged, he knelt down and commenced praying. The 
next day we prayed again together; and before he 
rose the blessing came, and he rejoiced with great 
joy in the consciousness of sins forgiven. 

I received many boxes of goods, provisions, 
money, blankets and clothing. Some of these were 
sent by friends, others were obtained from the 
supplies at Louisville. These boxes I distributed 
according to the doctors' directions and the needs 
of the men. 

I also sent to Cincinnati and obtained several 



318 EECOLLECTIONS. 

hymnals with music. These the boys greatly en- 
joyed, and after that Ave had rousing singing at 
our prayer meetings, and many a song from the 
boys at other times. 

About the 11th of March, the sick of several 
regiments were sent to Belmont as a general hos- 
pital. And soon after we were relieved by the 
Eleventh Michigan and ordered to Louisville, pre- 
paratory to embarking for Nashville. By the 19th 
we were on board, passed Fort Donaldson on the 
22d and reached Nashville on the 23d. 

We were now ready for the field, with Gen- 
eral Buell, and all hoped to be ordered to the front. 
But much to our disappointment we were ordered 
to stay at Nashville and guard the road, the depots, 
the magazines, and the stores which had accumu- 
lated there. Our camp was about two miles out of 
the city, and most of the men were kept constantly 
on duty. 

It was amusing, while here, to watch the social 
condition of things around us. The old men, the 
women, children and darkies, were about; but all 
the middle-aged and young men were with John- 
son and Beauregaurd. The ladies were spiteful; 
the old men, sullen; the darkies, delighted — they 
scarcely knew why. They had the impression, 
however, that in some way they were to be the 
gainers in the conflict. 

The boys of Bebel families, who came, frequently, 
to the camp, were generally talkative and boastful. 
In reply to some of our questions they would say: 
"Oh, yes; our boys have gone to the army now, 



RECOLLECTIONS. 319 

but they are coming home one of these days, and 
the way they will make you Yanks skedaddle will 
be awful!" 

While we were guarding our interests in the city, 
the great battle of Shiloh, or Pittsburgh Landing, 
was fought. That this battle was to occur, the 
Rebel part of the population seemed to have been 
apprised of for some time before it took place; 
and they were sanguine as to the expected result. 
And to depict their surprise, chagrin and distress, 
when they learned that the victory was on the 
Union side, would require much skill and time. 
But everywhere were signs of their mortification 
and disappointment. 

Early in April I went back to Louisville to look 
after our sick, whom we had left in hospital at 
Belmont Furnace. I remained with them two 
days and procured supplies, clothing, etc., and left 
all improving but two. These I commended to 
"God and the word of His grace," and, with our 
last farewells sadly spoken, returned to camp. 

Not long after this, I found myself con- 
siderably out of health. A very bilious condition 
of system unfitted me for duty and obstinately 
refused to yield to medical treatment. I saw that 
if I remained I must go into hospital, and, in all 
probability, into my grave. My friends, who felt 
anxious for me, advised me to ask for sick leave, 
and go North as soon as possible. But I concluded 
that if I could not do the work, I ought to resign, 
which I did, and which resignation was in a few 
days accepted. 



320 EECOLLECTIONS. 

On the 16th of April I left for Louisville. Here, 
at the home of my friends, the Holmans, I became 
too ill to go further, and was under the care of a 
physician for four days. To get North, as soon as 
possible, seemed the proper thing in my case to 
do, and, being carefully brought in a carriage to 
the depot by my friends, I was put on board the 
cars for Chicago. At Michigan City we encoun- 
tered a snow-storm, the sight of which seemed to 
have a tonic effect and did me good. I rested a 
day in Chicago and arrived home, April 24th, still 
weak but improving. 

The Minnesota Third, from which I had just 
parted, was a grand body of men. The rank and 
file were intelligent, many of them religious, and 
all, so far as I had opportunity to observe, in- 
fluenced by a sense of honor and a determination 
to do their duty. Shortly after my return home 
they were ordered to Murfreesboro, and there were 
ingloriously surrendered as prisoners of war, by a 
bare majority of their officers, without having 
struck a blow. This so discouraged and demoral- 
ized them, that they scarcely recovered their self- 
respect during the war. 

This regiment, however, did good service in the 
Indian war of 1862, and also in Tennessee and Ar- 
kansas, and until the war closed, when they were 
honorably mustered out. My health began to im- 
prove from the time of my reaching a higher lati- 
tude; and so soon as able, I was, at the request 
of the official board and the presiding elder, at 
work again in the Winona station, filling out a 



KECOLLECTIONS. 321 

vacancy caused by the illness of the pastor, Eev. 
S. Bolles. 

This dear brother was, in the days of his 
strength and for many years, one of the most noted 
evangelists in our Methodist church in the 
Northwest. He was almost a boy when he gave 
his heart to God and his life and labor to 
the church. He has had a wonderful influence 
in reaching the conscience of sinners, and through 
the might of the Holy Spirit many thousands have 
been led by him to the Lamb of God who taketh 
away the sins of the world. Of a gentle, dignified 
and eminently Christian character, and of a sym- 
pathetic nature, he is called, because of his readily 
flowing tears, the "weeping prophet." Bro. Bolles 
has done a grand life-work in the Rock River and 
the Minnesota conferences, and his sun is setting 
in fadeless splendor. 

While filling out this term of service I found 
a very pleasant home in the family of Hon. Thomas 
Simpson, of Winona, and his most estimable wife. 
These dear friends, then in the morning of their 
married life and Christian activity, were abundant 
in good works. The M. E. church, of Winona, 
now one of our strongest and most desirable ap- 
pointments, owes very much to the fidelity 
of Bro. Simpson, who, as superintendent of 
the Sunday school for almost twenty-five years, 
local preacher, trustee and steward, has been 
instrumental in laying its foundations in truth and 
righteousness. Nor can less be said of his noble 
wife, who wisely and with the administrative 



322 RECOLLECTIONS. 

ability of a statesman, and the gentle carriage 
of a Christian lady, has moulded and developed 
the social life of the church society, making it a 
very model for earnest work, on all lines of Chris- 
tian activity and associated benevolence. 

During the war times Sister Simpson did very 
much to contribute to the comfort of the 
soldiers. Boxes of bandages, lint, jellies and com- 
forts of many serviceable kinds found their way to 
the front from the ladies of Winona; whose leader 
was our indefatigable worker, Mrs. Thomas Simp- 
son. Later, when the children, orphaned by the 
war, were to be cared for, it was Mrs. Simpson 
who planned and superintended the "Soldier's 
Orphan's Home" at Winona; in which many a 
young life was directed to honorable manhood and 
womanhood. And she still labors for the Master 
in the church and Sunday school and in the 
blessed work of the "Woman's Christian Temper- 
ance Union." A few silver threads are mingling 
with the brown upon her brow; but it bears the 
stamp of a noble, earnest womanhood; that with 
"patient endurance of hope unto the end" will one 
day wear the crown of immortal life. Three pro- 
mising sons are also rising up to call her blessed. 



KECOLLECTIONS. 323 



CHAPTER XXII. 

OUMNG my service in Winona the Sioux Indi- 
"** ans on our western frontier began an indis- 
criminate slaughter of the inhabitants. Eight 
hundred were killed before their furious onslaught 
could be stayed, although as soon as their treach- 
ery was known, hundreds of men self supplied 
and self equipped, rushed to the front to stay the 
tide of death. 

The call of the Governor brought out a strong, 
well organized force sufficient to chastise the savages 
for their cruelty. For two years this Indian war 
was prosecuted by Minnesota troops alone, paid by 
the General Government, until the murdered 
settlers were avenged, and the Indians taught a 
lesson which they have never forgotten. Forty of 
these savages were hung at one time at Man- 
kato, or rather thirty nine were hung, one having 
died. This severity seemed at last to break the 
spirit of the Sioux, and the rebellion ended. 

The Minnesota conference met in Winona in 
September; Bishop Janes, presiding. 

The Northwest Wisconsin conference met at 
Hudson; Bishop Janes, presiding. Both 

very pleasant sessions. My appointment 



324 EECOLLECTIONS. * 

was Prescott station. This was one of the pleas- 
antest appointments in Northern Wisconsin. And 
as soon as the arrangements could be made, I 
moved my family from Eed Wing, where we had 
made our home for the preceding seven years. 

We were cordially welcomed to our new home 
and field of labor, and the year's work was as suc- 
cessful as under the constant excitement of the 
stirring events of those days, could be expected. 
For there was scarcely a family in the village, 
or in the vicinity of it, that was not represented in 
the Union army. Some with General Grant 
along the Mississippi; some in Tennessee with 
Eosecrans; some with McClellan, and some in the 
Indian campaign up the Missouri. And almost 
every heart was throbbing with anxiety or wound- 
ed with sorrow; and every flash of the telegraph 
brought news of conflict or reports of victory, 
which meant blood and death, and tears, and 
broken hearts ; or there were calls for more troops ; 
or help was needed by Sanitary or by Christian 
commissions. 

With what eagerness tidings were sought and 
watched for, to be so often only the messengers of 
sadness! From that little village, as from many 
an other town and city, our whole country over, of 
the fathers and husbands, brothers, sons and 
lovers who went forth at the call of their 
country, strong and brave hearted, many never re- 
turned, and many came back only to die; or crip- 
pled for life, to wear the scars of carnage and of 
cruelty. The terror and dread, caused by the 



RECOLLECTIONS. 325 

savage ferocity of the Indians, added to the 
troubles of that terrible time. While the Indian 
war was being waged on the west, all knew that 
the Chippewas on the north could any day attack 
our frontier settlements; and they were restless 
and threatening. This, also disturbed the people. 
The settlers in the West were nearly all collected 
in stockades and forts ; while in Northwest Wiscon- 
sin the inhabitants of large neighborhoods were 
stampeded by rumors of approaching savages. 
Yet in all this ordeal, and time of excitement, "of 
wars and rumors of wars," our society in Prescott 
waited upon God; and we stayed our hearts upon 
His Word. And we held our own and gained a 
little. 

The Minnesota conference had been held at 
Hastings; closing October 3, 1863, and the 
Northwest Wisconsin was to meet at Eau Claire, 
October 6. Bishop Ames was to preside at each. 

To get from Hastings to Eau Claire, it was 
necessary to travel through the Eau Galle and Me- 
nomonee woods by way of Prescott and Hammond, 
a distance of one hundred miles, forty of which 
was a wilderness, as there were but one or two 
houses on the route after leaving Hammond for 
the next forty miles. To make it pleasant for the 
bishop, who was depending on us for conveyance, I' 
had arranged that about twelve of us should meet 
at Bro. Mattison's in Pleasant Valley, to which 
point the bishop was to be brought; and we would 
convey him on from there. And also that after 



326 KEOOLLECTIONS. 

the bishop's arrival at noon, we would enjoy 
dinner together. 

By twelve o'clock we were all on hand at Bro. 
Mattison's, and looking for the bishop; while Sister 
Mattison, knowing we had a long ride to take, had 
her dinner promptly ready, and an abundant and 
excellent one it was. One o'clock had come, but 
no bishop; 2 o'clock— half past two — and we then 
concluded that he had stopped at River Falls for 
dinner; and we sat down hungry enough. We had 
just finished, however, when the bishop drove up 
— and had not been to dinner. The supply of pro- 
visions had been abundant, especially the beans, 
and so the bishop fared equally as well as those who 
had enjoyed the first table. But there had been 
quite a loss of time; consequently, we made little 
delay after the meal was over in taking to our 
vehicles and horses as we were obliged to push on 
as far as possible into the woods that night, in 
order to get through the next day. My intention 
had been to make about twenty-five miles before 
dark and camp out in the woods. But as it was, 
night overtook us just as we came to a deserted 
log hut, having driven only about fifteen miles. 
Some of us, in arranging this plan, thought that it 
might assist the bishop to appreciate the luxuries 
of his Baltimore home a trifle more, if he should 
camp out with us and experience for himself a little 
of the rough and tumble of western itinerant life. 
But as it happened, we slept quite comfortably on 
the floor of the deserted hut; and having blankets 
ai id provisions in abundance, could in no sense 



RECOLLECTIONS. 327 

consider it hard fare. At least it was what we had 
learned by frequent experience to think very fine 
accommodation. 

The next day, the bishop, as we were getting 
ready to resume our journey, proposed a change of 
partners in his own conveyance and mine, so that 
we might talk over the work of the district and 
needs of the work. Some of the pleasantry, of 
which the bishop at times had an abundance, could 
not be much longer repressed; and after we had 
been talking and riding for some time he said, 
(there being three of us in the hack with the 
bishop): — 

"Well, brethren, it appears to me that as we are 
on our way to conference, we ought to settle any 
little differences we may have, before we get there." 
To this there was cordial and general consent; all 
wondering, however, who was meant, and what dif- 
ferences there were to settle. 

"I was thinking," he continued, in a sober and 
somewhat grieved tone, "about the difficulty be- 
tween Bro. Hobart and myself, on account of his 
having eaten up all the beans for dinner yesterday, 
before I came." At this there was a hearty laugh; 
when Bro. Hobart defended himself by saying, 
that he had waited dinner two hours and a half 
for the bishop, and had concluded that he did not 
intend to dine with us; consequently, we were the 
parties, if any, who had a right to complain, we 
and the good sister who had kept her dinner hot — 
expecting him for two and a half mortal hours. 

"Well, well," he responded, pleasantly, but as if 



328 RECOLLECTIONS. 

pronouncing a judicial sentence, "I suppose we 
ought, perhaps, to compromise the matter and 
have no hard feelings, even if Bro. Hobart did eat 
up the beans." 

"We reached Eau Claire the next day, where the 
good people entertained the preachers with royal 
good will. And we had a pleasant, harmonious 
and profitable conference. C. Hobart and Rev. 
T. C. Golden were elected delegates to the General 
conference to be held in Philadelphia, May, 1864. 
And I was returned to Prescott'for the second 
year; which was satisfactory to the preacher, and, 
so far as I know, to the people. As our daughter 
was attending Hamline university, and we found 
it difficult to secure such boarding accommodations 
for her as we desired, we arranged this year to 
have the family return to our Red Wing home, 
while I remained at my work, and I found a pleas- 
ant boarding place with Grandma Redman and 
her daughter, Mrs. York. 

During the winter a call was made for 
ministers to help in the Sanitary and Christian 
commissions, to nurse the sick and wounded, dis- 
tribute Bibles, tracts, papers, clothing, etc., and to 
care generally for our "boys in blue." To this 
call I responded, asking to be sent to the front; 
and preferring to go to Alabama, near Huntsville, 
where the Fifth Iowa cavalry was at the time, and 
to which my son belonged. I arranged to have 
my pulpit supplied, and, accompanied by Rev. G. 
W. Richardson, was soon en route. 

On reaching Nashville, I learned that the Fifth 



RECOLLECTIONS. 329 

Iowa had just arrived there from Huntsville, to re- 
main for a week or two until paid off, and be newly 
clothed, when they were to return to their homes on 
a "veteran furlough." This, of course, changed 
my desire for proceeding to Alabama, and at the 
urgent request of Bev. Smith, superintendent of 
the Christian commission at Nashville, I con- 
sented to remain there and take charge of the 
"Zollikoffer Barracks." The building so named 
was an immense unfinished hotel, which would 
accommodate about two thousand of the soldiers, 
and was used as a stopping place for those going 
to the front and returning. Bro. Bichardson was 
given charge of the convalescent camp adjoining 
the penitentiary. Our work consisted in preach- 
ing to the boys, once or twice a day, in the various 
camps; in caring for the sick and distributing 
books and papers to the soldiers, well, sick and 
wounded, and especially in furnishing every man 
going to the front, with a Bible or Testament. 
We were also able to visit several of the hospitals, 
and gave such help and comfort to the brave suf- 
ferers in them as we could. This labor of love we 
enjoyed; it kept us busy and fully occupied; but 
we have hope that it made it easier for some to do 
right, harder for others to do wrong, refreshed 
many weary hearts, smoothed and soothed some 
dying pillows; and directed the feet of hundreds 
to the "Lamp of Life." 

While attending one of the camps, I found a 
strong, muscular } oung man, who belonged to the 
First Tennessee cavalry, who had been placed under 

22 



330 RECOLLECTIONS. 

guard, and left there while the regiment proceeded 
toward Memphis. The regiment had been ordered 
off in a hurry, and he had probably been forgotten. 
It appeared that when his regiment had come to 
Nashville he had become drunk, and mistaking him- 
self for commander-in-chief, had to be put under 
guard. When I found him he was sober enough, 
and chafing like a tethered eagle, held to the earth, 
and struggling to mount to the clouds: "I must 
get off! I can't stay here! I ought not to be here! 
What shall I do?" were some of his expressions of 
real distress. After seeing his situation I went to 
Gov. Andrew Johnson, afterwards Yice-President, 
and later, unfortunately, President of the United 
States, and secured his discharge and return to 
his regiment; for which favor he gave me his 
grateful acknowledgments. 

One Sunday afternoon, after Bro. Kichardson 
and I had preached in the morning, we went to 
the Zion Methodist church, colored. We heard a 
rather unique sermon, after which we had a class- 
meeting on a new pattern. The preacher called 
forward twelve of the brethren who took their 
places in the altar. These he addressed and ex- 
horted as a leader would the members of his 
class, and concluded by saying, "Now, bred-ren, 
do your duty." Each of the twelve proceeded at 
once to take charge as class leaders of as many 
sections of the congregation, four of thesp being 
in the corners, and the other eight scattered 
about in the centre and adjoining parts of the 
church. The members seemed to understand 



RECOLLECTIONS. 331 

■ 

to which claim they belonged, the several 
claims being in many instances not only con- 
tiguous but over-lapping. Zeal and fervor 
began soon to rise as an oncoming tide, when a 
shout from one corner was heard; then another 
from an opposite direction; then from several in- 
termediate points, until scarcely anything else 
could be heard in the house but exclamations of 
praise and shouts of glory. 

We had been seated in the division on the right 
of the pulpit and had, in due course, been spoken 
to by our leader, who was engaged in addressing 
those behind us, when the leader of the adjoining 
class in his rounds came near and supposing that 
the brother on our right belonged to his class, 
said with considerable official dignity: — 

"Tell us, brudder, how's you getten 'long?" To 
which the brother responded with equal impor- 
tance: — 

"Augh g'long! I'se been looked over!" Short- 
ly after, with a general hand shaking, the meeting 
closed. 

During our stay in Nashville, we were delighted 
to meet Bishop Simpson, who had come down at 
the suggestion of Secretary Stanton, to ascertain 
if it were practicable for the M. E. church to re- 
occupy and hold the church buildings of the M. E. 
church, South. The bishop called together about 
twenty of the Methodist preachers, who were there 
as chaplains, visitors and workers, in the Sanitary 
and Christian commissions, and had a consultation 
on the subject. The bishop was in favor of such 



332 RECOLLECTIONS. 

occupation, and made quite a plausible speech in 
its interest, and after giving us the opinions of 
Mr. Stanton and others, called on the brethren 
present for an expression of their views on the 
subject. 

After considerable discussion and expression of 
opinion from others, I told them that I thought 
the measure proposed, both wrong and impracti- 
cable; that I had no doubt of the triumph of our 
cause, nor of the propriety of carrying our work 
into the South, but that we were perfectly able to 
build our own churches. I also said that it was 
my opinion that if we should take those churches 
and man them, that we would never have any one 
who had been in sympathy with the Rebellion to 
hear us. The good bishop dissented entirely from 
my views, and when the vote was taken upon the 
measure, I found myself in the minority of one. 
Subsequent events, however, proved that the mi- 
nority was in the right, and in this case, at least, 
that the majority was wrong. 

After four weeks spent in Nashville, we were 
sent down to Murfreesboro, to look after the 
wants of our soldiers, in the garrison and hospi- 
tals there. While here, Bro. Richardson and my- 
self visited the Stone River battle field, where for 
three days nearly five hundred thousand men had 
struggled in mortal combat. We walked among 
the graves where peaceably slept, side by side, the 
boys of the Blue and the Grey. And we thought 
of the burial of Sir John Moore, and his heroes, 
of whom it was sung: — 



RECOLLECTIONS. 333 

"They have slept their last sleep, 
They have fought their last battle; 
And no sound can awake them — 
To glory again." 

I gathered a few mementoes there and on my 
return labeled and presented them as souvenirs 
of Stone River's bloody battle field to the cabi- 
net collection of Hamline university. 

On my return home, at the expiration of my 
term of six weeks' service, I found my son was 
still on his "veteran furlough." We enjoyed a 
visit with him for a few days, and then he was 
ordered to Fort Snelling. From thence his bat- 
talion had orders to join General Sibley in his 
expedition against the Indians up the Missouri. 
In that service, they were retained until the close 
of the war. 

About the 22d of April, I joined Drs. Eddy 
and Crary, and we proceeded via the Pensylvania 
Central and York railroad to Baltimore. 
Dr Crary and myself spent two days in 
looking at the objects of interest in the Monu- 
mental City, and then proceeded to Washington, 
where we remained three days, visiting the Capi- 
tol, the Treasury Building, just then completed, 
the Smithsonian Institute, several of the libraries, 
and the White House; then the residence of my 
old friend of Springfield days, President Abraham 
Lincoln; and reached Philadelphia, the seat of the 
General conference, on April 30th, 1864. 

At this conference I missed many familiar faces, 
of those with whom I had been associated through 
the earlier years of my ministry. Twenty-eight 



334 RECOLLECTIONS. 

changeful years had caused those who were elder- 
ly men when I joined the ranks of the itinerancy, 
to be either laid aside from the active work, or 
borne them to the Land of Life; and now vigorous 
and younger men were filling their places. 

The happy suggestion was here made by some 
one, that the committees should meet once in three 
days; thus giving the smaller conferences an op- 
portunity of being represented. Bro. Golden and 
myself served upon about six different standing 
committees. When a member of the "committee 
on revisals," I had the satisfaction of suggesting 
two amendments, which were adopted by the con- 
ference and which have continued in the Discipline 
until the present. One, allowing the bishop to 
appoint a traveling preacher, agent for the tem- 
perance work. This I did at the suggestion of my 
old friend and brother, Dr. John Quigley. The 
other, amending the Discipline so as to read: "A 
majority of the board of trustees, shall be mem- 
bers of our church." Thus allowing us to avail 
ourselves of the help of those who, though friend- 
ly and loyal to the M. E. church, were not mem- 
bers in fact. I remember that at the close of the 
Episcopal address, there seemed to be a wonder- 
ful outburst of enthusiasm and applause on the 
part of many. My friend, Eev. Granville Moody, 
D. D., voiced this feeling by thanking God, in his 
boisterous style of eloquence, that he had lived to 
see the day, when such recommendations as we 
had heard should be embodied in an Episcopal 
address in regard to slavery. 



RECOLLECTIONS. 335 

With this laudation I could not sympathize. It 
appeared to me to savor of absurdity. That now, 
when the Almighty had, with the avenging tread 
of the war demon, trampled out the "accursed in- 
stitution," and washed away some of our national 
stains with the spilled blood of our brave thous- 
ands — tiow to recommend in General conference, 
that no slave holder be admitted to membership 
in the M. E. church, was a matter of no great credit. 

Had this been done eight, or even four years be- 
fore, it would have been an act of moral heroism, 
which would have entitled us to take higher rank 
as a church; but to do it now, when there was 
nothing to lose, and no moral altitude to be gained 
by it, demanded, it seemed to me, rather a con- 
sciousness of humiliation, than of commendation 
or applause of ourselves. The great men who in 
those days were our leaders, have passed into Abra- 
ham's bosom; their eulogies have been said and 
sung in all our churches, and yet among the mul- 
titude of their panegyrists, none have, nor could, 
truly assert that they had ever fully antagonized 
the monster, Slavery, until the old giant was in his 
coffin. 

Quite early in the session, Bro. Golden and I 
had sent to the chair a resolution, asking that a 
committee of five, including one bishop, be sent to 
Washington to congratulate President Lincoln on 
his wise management of the war, and to assure 
him of the continued loyalty of the General con- 
ference, and of the Methodist Episcopal 
church, to the cause of the Union. This resolu- 



336 RECOLLECTIONS. 

tion was adopted without a dissenting voice. 

And it was in his interview with that committee 
that President Lincoln pronounced and sent to 
the General conference his noted eulogy on our 
denomination: "That the Methodist church had 
sent more soldiers to the field, more nurses to the 
camp, and more prayers to Heaven than any other 
church." Parliamentary etiquette would have 
entitled either Bro. Golden or myself to a place 
on that committee, but we were satisfied with the 
honor of having originated the thought. The 
committee were, Bishop Ames, Drs. Elliott, Cum- 
mings, Moody, and, I think, Bristol. 

It was at this or the preceding General con- 
ference, when on the committee on "boundaries" 
that I called up the question of the naming of our 
conferences, and proposed that hereafter, instead 
of calling an Ohio conference — Deleware, an Illi- 
nois conference — Peoria, a New York conference 
— Oneida, Black Biver, or Genesee, that, the geo- 
graphical position of the conference should deter- 
mine the name. This recommendation, greatly to 
the advantage of all concerned, was adopted and 
has been since continued. 

The report of the committee on "Episcopacy" 
favored the election of three bishops. And it very 
soon became evident that, in the opinion of their 
friends, there were about twenty brethren well 
fitted for the office of a bishop; and not less than 
fifty others, who would not have refused election 
to that responsible office, had their friends insisted 
that they should assume the honor. However, the 



RECOLLECTIONS. 337 

report of the committee was adopted and but three 
were chosen. The first ballot elected Drs. 
Thompson and Clarke by a fair majority; the 
second, Dr. G. Kingsley, greatly to the satisfac- 
tion of his old anti-slavery friends. 

During our stay in Philadelphia, there was also 
held a National Association of the Baptist 
church, bringing together a large number of its 
leading ministers and members. I was pleasantly 
surprised a few days after this body convened, to 
receive a call from the Rev. Isaac N. Hobart, a 
minister of that church and a member of the asso- 
ciation. We were cousins; had occasionally cor- 
responded for years, but had never met before. 
We spent a day together, visiting libraries, muse- 
ums, art galleries, etc., and found our association 
mutually agreeable. 

On returning to my charge, I gave much time 
and attention to the building of the parsonage, 
which I had commenced before going to Phila- 
delphia, and by the close of the summer had suc- 
ceeded in getting it ready for occupancy and out 
of debt. On this parsonage I had worked assid- 
uously, laying the foundation, framing and enclos- 
ing the building, hauling the lumber, etc., mostly 
myself, with the occasional assistance of the 
brethren, when we would make a "bee" for the 
special service needed. 

This summer, that of 1864, was the crucial period 
of the war. Sherman and Thomas, with others 
equally heroic, were fighting around Atlanta some 
of their bloodiest battles. While Grant, with his 



338 RECOLLECTIONS. 

grand corps commanders, Sheridan,Meade,Hancock 
and others, was cutting his way from the Bapidan 
to Petersburg, leaving the ground saturated with 
blood. Now all the agony of the previous years 
seemed to be intensified. In Prescott there were 
many aching hearts and several bereaved house- 
holds. Two young men, sons of our leading church 
members, each commanding companies, fell in that 
awful Battle of the Wilderness. Our friends in the 
Chippewa valley were also in sorrow. One, our 
"Little Johnnie Doughty," who had been the first 
person converted in the great revival of 1858, and 
who made the air vocal with his glad songs of 
praise, had been taken prisoner at Chickamauga, 
and sent to Libby prison. There, as his hand was 
seen by the guard, on or near the ledge of the 
window, it was made a target of, and wantonly 
shot through. Then he was sent to a hospital and 
allowed to die of a wound which ordinarily would 
have healed. Another was shot down at the battle 
of Stone Eiver, and a third, the son of our 
excellent Bro. Colman, was so injured by a wound 
in the skull, that for long months it was doubtful 
whether reason would ever return. And so it was, 
mourning and anxiety were everywhere. 

Our Northwest Wisconsin conference was to 
meet that fall at Black River Palls, and I had gone 
to my home preparatory to setting out for it and was 
just packing my valise, when Rev. B. F. Hoyt, of 
St. Paul, called to inform me that Bishop Kings- 
ley* (who had been presiding at the Minnesota 
conference at St. Paul), had transferred me to 



RECOLLECTIONS. 339 

that conference and stationed me at "Market street." 
As there had been no intimation either on my part, 
or that of any other, so far as I was aware, of this 
transfer, it not only surprised but disappointed me. 
It necessitated changes that I had not thought of 
making, and drove me to much prayer and re- 
newed consecration, before I was prepared to be- 
lieve that this was the best thing for the work and 
for me; and was part of the "all things working 
together for good," according to the Word of our 
God. 

In about ten days we had packed up; found a 
tenant for our house, had moved, and were settled 
in St. Paul, and I was at my work in the same 
little church which I had labored so hard to build, 
fifteen years before. Here I found a Sunday 
school of some thirty attendants, and a congrega- 
tion of about thirty-five; these nearly all members 
of the church. 

This condition of things is accounted for by the 
fact that some few years before the great majority 
of the membership of Market street church, had 
selected another site, and built the Jackson street 
church, thus leaving the Market street church in 
its then depleted condition. On ascertaining these 
conditions, the next thing for me to determine was, 
whether there was any possibility of an increase 
either by accretion or absorption. If so, I 
intended by the "help of the Lord," and the "Word 
of His grace," to do what in me lay to bring about 
an enlargement. But if local conditions and social 
influences were such that the Sunday school and 



340 RECOLLECTIONS. 

congregation were hemmed in, and bound down by 
an ineradicable conservatism, then I saw that my 
duty required me to do the best that I possibly 
could for that year; but that it did not make it 
incumbent upon me to remain there any longer. 

I also learned, after a while, to unriddle the 
enigma of my having been so suddenly picked up 
from my work in the Northwest Wisconsin con- 
ference and transferred to Minnesota and to the 
Market street church. It came about in this way: 
Among my earliest acquaintances in St. Paul, was 
a young man of much promise and ability, Wra. P. 
Murray, Esq., a lawyer from Indiana. This gentle- 
man had been a member of the M. E. church, and 
was then an attendant on our religious services. 
He very soon became exceedingly popular with the 
people, and a leading man in the Democratic party, 
which in St. Paul was in need of a leader. He 
had been a resident of the territory but a few 
months, when he was elected a member of the 
House of Kepresentatives, and from that time 
until the present has been in various political 
positions of influence and trust— the present 
city attorney of St. Paul being Hon. W. P. 
Murray. In about two years he returned to 
Indiana and brought back as his bride a bright, 
sensible little lady, a member of the Methodist 
church, and a warm hearted Methodist, of 
good Methodist stock. The associations of his 
political career had not conduced to Mr. Murray's 
growth, religiously. This was a grief to his wife, 
who was anxious for his salvation. For some time 



RECOLLECTIONS. 341 

she had been greatly exercised for an improve- 
ment in his interest in the things that would 
"make for his peace," and on one occasion, while 
conversing with him on the subject, learned that my 
appointment to Market street church would, as she 
believed, result in his return to the church, and to 
an earnest Christian life. What wonder, then, that 
the good little lady and loving wife, put on her 
thinking cap? And what wonder that when not 
long after, the conference met at St. Paul, as the 
result of her diplomacy and wise and persistent 
effort, the bishop and cabinet saw the matter in 
the same light as herself, and I was transferred 
and stationed at "Market street," St. Paul? 

Query: Is our nation the gainer or loser by ex- 
cluding one half of the talent and three-fourths of 
the piety from participation in the government of 
the country and allowing the worst half to manage 
public affairs as they please? Is not the real 
mystery of the day the fact, that in the church, 
and in the political and civil world, as well as in 
the social realm, we do not assign to women the 
place which they would by their tact and purer 
moral perceptions elevate and adorn and to which 
their very earnestness and enthusiasm in whatever 
affects the welfare of their homes and of their 
loved ones, adapts them ? 

Among the burden bearers of our little society, 
I recall with pleasure the names of Hon. John 
Nichols and his cultured, Christian wife, a Balti- 
more lady. Bro. Nichols was for a time the only 
wealthy member we had. He was leader, steward, 



342 RECOLLECTIONS. 

trustee, and an earnest Sabbath school worker; 
as well as a liberal supporter of the preacher and 
of the church. A quiet, undemonstrative, order 
loving, genuine Christian, of more than ordinary 
literary attainments, and an intelligent, thoughtful 
hearer of the Word of God, and a lover of whatso- 
ever things are true. His elegant and hospitable 
home was made a welcome resting place for the 
preachers, and the recollection of many pleasant 
hours enjoyed in that Christian home, is a delight- 
ful memory. Bro. Nichols died about ten years 
ago, in the faith and hope of a glorious immor- 
tality. 

Mrs. Wm. P. Murray was also one of our active 
workers. She and her husband never wearied of 
making their home attractive by its friendliness to 
the preachers. During the year, this kind family 
were saddened by the death of an unusually at- 
tractive and beautiful little girl of about nine 
years. Little Jennie had caught the welcome, and 
the manner of her mother in her entertainment of 
her pastor, and on one of my visits to the family 
exemplified this very prettily. On that day, her 
mother was not at home when I called; but little 
Jennie received me in the parlor with all the 
dignity and propriety of twenty-five, inquiring if I 
had been to dinner, and learning that I had not, 
but was waiting to meet an engagement by the 
boat, she insisted that I must have at least a lunch 
before leaving. She would take no excuse or re- 
fusal, and considerably amused and pleased at her 
womanliness, I yielded to the child's request; then 



RECOLLECTIONS. 343 

she left the room, asking to be excused for a mo- 
ment or two, and returning, invited me to the 
dining room, where was spread the arrangements 
for my meal. With what womanly grace she 
helped me, inquiring, "Tea or coffee?" "Cream 
and sugar?" and went through the etiquette of the 
table, is well remembered; and how she waited on 
me to the door, hoping I would have a pleasant 
meeting, and come again soon, when mamma 
would be home, etc. Dear little Jennie! We laid 
the fair tenement, in which she had dwelt while 
here, tenderly away in tlie grave ; but we knew that 
the spirit of the child, wise above her years, who 
had so often sung to us of Jesus, and talked of 
her love for Him who had died for sinners, was in 
His presence, who hath said, "Their angels do 
always behold the face of my Father which is in 
Heaven." 

Shortly before my transfer to the Min- 
nesota conference, I had been notified that I 
had been appointed a member of the General Mis- 
sion committee, to represent the conferences of 
the Northwest for the next four years and which 
was to meet in November, at New York. And 
soon after, I was informed that the members of 
the General Mission committee, would this year, 
also represent the church in the "board of church 
extension," to meet in Philadelphia. Making the 
most satisfactory arrangements that I could to 
have my pulpit supplied for two Sabbaths, I set out 
for New York, and arrived there, early in Novem- 
ber, in time to meet the committee, having stopped 



344 RECOLLECTIONS. 

at Pittsburg over Sabbath; also spending a day at 
Madison, New Jersey, when I had the pleasure 
of hearing Rev. Dr. McClintock's inaugural ad- 
dress, and was present at the opening of Drew 
Theological seminary. 

I had been informed by Rev. David Terry, be- 
fore leaving home, that while in New York I was 
to be the guest of Samuel P. Patterson, Esq., of 61 
Third street. On arriving at the Methodist Book 
concern, 200 Mullberry street, I inquired my way 
to 61 Third street. Being directed, and making 
my travel soiled person slightly more presentable 
I repaired there and was kindly welcomed by Mrs. 
Patterson to the hospitalities of that Christian 
home. In the afternoon the board met in the old 
Mission Rooms, opposite the "book room." 
Present, all the bishops; Dr. Darbin, the local 
board of ministers and laymen, and the twelve 
delegates; who represented the several districts of 
the church. 

Our task was an arduous one; the whole field, 
both foreign and domestic, was to be reviewed, and 
appropriations made for the coming conference 
year. Several brethren were present with us who 
had been sent there to make special pleas for their 
own localities. Among these was Dr. George, of 
St. Louis, who was under the impression that all 
the churches owned by the church, South, were to 
be handed over to the M. E. church; and that at 
least fifty thousand dollars must be appropriated 
to the work in Missouri. Between myself and the 
doctor, there occurred quite a friendly contest. 



RECOLLECTIONS. 345 

I succeeded in modifying the sum claimed for his 
work, to about one-half; and he succeeded in re- 
ducing the appropriation asked by me and needed 
for the Minnesota conference, from six thousand 
to four thousand dollars. The work and business 
of the committee required our closest attention for 
about a week; and the Sabbath was spent by the 
delegates in preaching in the several churches of 
the city and Brooklyn. 

On the following Wednesday, haying completed 
our work in New York, we hastened to Phila- 
delphia, to meet with the Board of Church Exten- 
sion. I had greatly enjoyed my stay at the family 
of my kind friends, the Pattersons. The children, 
of whom there were six, were especially interest- 
ing. The two eldest were twins, a son and 
daughter; and the second son, Frank, was a hand- 
some wide-awake boy, whose heart, as well as 
those of the elder children, I seemed to have won 
by telling them bear stories. I here met also Miss 
Harriet A. Duncan, sister of Mrs. Patterson, who 
assisted in making my visit agreeable; and who, 
on the Saturday afternoon before my leaving, 
kindly accompanied me to one of the best stores of 
the city, where we selected cloaks, etc., for my wife 
and daughter. 

At Philadelphia we met, for the first time, as a 
Board of Church Extension, and there formu- 
lated plans and made such suggestions, during two 
days of thoughtful and prayerful effort, as has 
resulted in making this grand enterprise take rank 

23 



346 RECOLLECTIONS. 

as one of the most important benevolences of onr 
church. 

This child of our care and prayer, has needed 
much nurture during these intervening twenty 
years. It has not reached its present excellent 
maturity without having had many a struggle with 
difficulty and acquiring many a lesson of wisdom, 
learned only by suffering and experience. But I 
rejoice in its accomplished success, and am thank- 
ful that I had a share in starting it on its upward 
course, and most gladly do I re-echo the chorus of 
its grand assistant secretary, Chaplain C. C. Mc- 
Cabe, who in response to the infidel assumption 
that Methodism had declined, and that her 
churches were dying or dead, telegraphed: 
"Praise God from whom all blessings flow! — we're 
building two a day!" 

Business over, I hastened back to my work and 
resumed my pastoral and pulpit duties. 

The war kept thundering on. Grant was before 
Petersburg. Sherman was marching from "At- 
lanta to the sea." Thomas was in the vicinity of 
Nashville, there scattering and weakening the 
forces of Hood. Soon came news of the great de- 
cisive battle, which disposed of the last Bebel 
army in the valley of the Mississippi: the Battle 
of Nashville. We heard how Generals Smith 
and Schofield had been ordered to advance; how 
they had dashed forward with leveled bayonets, 
and high, ringing cheers, on the Kebel position ; of 
the short but frightful work; how "the hills 
shook and the earth trembled; and the whole 



RECOLLECTIONS. 347 

field was like the sulphurous and gaping mouth of 
hell." For the entire Kebel line was ablaze, like 
a sheet of fire; in half an hour it was over and 
the Rebel army in full retreat. 

And through it all we kept on praying and labor- 
ing; and about the time of the end of the Christ- 
mas holidays we began to see signs of a revival. 
Then we commenced a series of meetings, which 
continued for about four weeks, and resulted in 
the conversion of forty souls, and a great increase 
of zeal and faith in the church. 

I received, during these meetings, kind and effi- 
cient help from my brethren, Revs. Hewson and 
Griswold, who were members of the legislature, 
which met that year in St. Paul. And I remem- 
ber that during the last week of our meeting, while 
enjoying a glorious baptism of the Spirit, eight 
young married ladies, whose husbands were all, I 
think, in the army, came forward as seekers; and 
were each happily converted. I took their names 
and hoped to be able to help and encourage them 
religiously. Five, however, when I called to see 
them, had moved away. One of them only, I met 
several years after, and she was still a happy 
Christian. 

In April, that great national calamity, the assas* 
sination of President Lincoln, fell upon us like the 
knell of doom. When the first telegram announced 
the fact, the people of St. Paul, in common with 
the whole nation, seemed dazed. The loss itself 
was great; but it was aggravated by the dastardly 
manner in which the foul deed was done. There 



348 RECOLLECTIONS. 

is some degree of respect due to a man who donned 
the grey and periled or lost t his life for the cause 
he loved, though he fought in a bad cause. 
But for the miscreant, who lacked the courage 
to meet his foes on the battle-field, nor had 
the magnanimity to even attempt to adjust 
his differences on the "field of honor," but 
could sneak up like a thief and murder his unsu- 
specting victim, there is no other verdict than the 
universal contempt of mankind. 

The sad occasion was soon after improved in our 
church by setting forth God's ability to make even 
the wrath of man to praise Him and the remainder 
of wrath to restrain. Before the close of the year, 
our Sunday school had quadrupled in numbers, 
and our membership had about doubled. But, 
although this was encouraging, yet I plainly saw 
that as this church had become situated, we could 
scarcely expect to make much permanent growth. 
Large and elegant churches had been built all 
around ours. The population in the immediate 
vicinity was chiefly foreign, and supplied with 
churches of their own. After careful considera- 
tion of the matter, I suggested to the brethren that 
under the circumstances it was my judgment that 
the time had come for us to sell and build in a 
more promising location. But the few who were 
the burden bearers, were not quite ready to give 
up the old location, and they thought that it would 
be wiser to wait before making a change, although 
assured that it would come of necessity by and by. 

When conference came I told the authorities 



RECOLLECTIONS. 349 

that I wanted a larger field, and was appointed to 
the Eed Wing circuit. This permitted us to return 
to our home, and gave me a two weeks' circuit with 
six preaching places, all to be filled on Sunday. 
The work was later enlarged to eight appointments, 
to be filled once in three weeks.- We had several 
local preachers on the circuit; so a plan was made 
out on the English pattern, and by it every point 
had preaching on Sunday, and the work went on 
very satisfactorily. Every one of these points was 
visited with a revival and many were converted. 

During the summer of this year, I had arranged 
to have a camp meeting held on some land which 
I owned, about three miles from town, and which 
furnished pleasant shade and good water. This 
was a season of wonderful power. From the very 
beginning of our meeting, the spirit of ear- 
nest prayer and mighty faith took possession 
of the hearts of believers. Very many were bap- 
tized with the Spirit of the Lord and entered into 
the "rest of soul." Backsliders were reclaimed 
and about sixty were converted. Among those 
who were converted, was my own little Willie, then 
about eight years old. He came to me soon after 
and asked if he might join the church. He 
united then as a probationer; was duly received 
into full connection; and has since by a consistent 
walk adorned the doctrine of Christ. And he is 
to-day preaching in China, the everlasting Gospel 
of the Son of God. 

Some of the old fashioned style of conversions 
took place there. Brother Lewis Johnson was so 



350 RECOLLECTIONS. 

overpowered with the Spirit, that he was unable 
to move for several hours, but could sing and 
shout and praise, which he did lustily; thank- 
ing God that although he could not use his limbs, 
he could use his tongue to praise Him. This 
good brother, a Scandinavian by birth, continues one 
of the most faithful and efficient Christians. He 
has been of much assistance in organizing Sunday 
schools in Goodhue county, being secretary of the 
Goodhue County Sunday School association. 

At one of my circuit appointments, lived a very 
estimable family, several of whose members be- 
longed to the Christian or Campbellite church, 
and who were quite zealous in their endeavors to 
propagate their peculiar tenets. The father of 
this family had asked and obtained permission to 
use our church on Sabbath afternoons. Things 
went on harmoniously until after a while when the 
preacher took occasion to make telling points, in his 
judgment, against the teaching and discipline of the 
Methodist church, assailing the doctrine of justifi- 
cation by faith alone, and insisting that baptism 
by immersion, Avas the New Testament condition 
of remission of sins, and the only way of salvation. 
I thought to reply to this, in preaching sometime 
when at that place ; but when I spoke of it, to the 
brethren, they rather objected, fearing that it 
might make ill feeling in the neighborhood. But 
I was not quite satisfied to let things go that way; 
and so at the camp-meeting, I thought that as it 
was my meeting and on my own land, at a suitable 



EEOOLLECTIONS. 351 

time I would say what I believed ought to be said, 
on this subject. 

On Sunday morning we had a large congrega- 
tion, and our Campbellite friends were all out. I 
discoursed for an hour and forty minutes on the 
doctrine of "justification by fait,h" as God gave 
me ability. During this discourse the arm of the 
Almighty was revealed, setting his seal to the truth. 
And during the progress of the meeting, numbers 
were lying on the ground like dead men slain in 
battle. Additional interest was given to the exer- 
cises by the presence of a large number of Al- 
bright Germans, whose songs and shouts in 'Ger- 
man, added more ferver to the exultant chorus of 
praise, which went up from that camp-ground to 
Israel's mighty Savior. At the conclusion of the 
sermon above alluded to, our good Campbellite 
brother came to me and said: — 

"I think you were too hard on us in your sermon 
this morning." 

"In what way, my brother?" I asked. 

"Why, you said we taught that baptism was the 
condition of salvation!" 

"No, my brother," I replied, "I never mentioned 
your name while I was preaching!" 

"That is so; but you meant us all the time!" 

"Don't you hold that doctrine?" I asked. 

"No:" he said positively, "we do not!" 

"Then, my friend, I did not mean you, for I was 
speaking of those who held that doctrine!" 

"Well, but you did mean us," he replied warmly. 



352 RECOLLECTIONS. 

"You meant us, and we hold just *^hat Peter taught 
on the day of Pentecost!" 

"Bro. L " said I, "we might talk this over 

for hours, or days perhaps, and we would then be 
no nearer to agreeing as to the meaning of what 
Peter said than we are now, but I can tell you 
what we will do: I hope you are a Christian; and 
I want you to be sure and gain Heaven, and I will 
strive, by the help of the Lord, to get there also. 
Now when we both find ourselves safe in the Land 
of Life, and have become somewhat accustomed to 
our surroundings, we will inquire, 'Where can we 
find St. Peter?' And when we have found him, we 
will seat ourselves under the leaves of the Tree of 
Life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God, 
and we will ask him to tell us precisely what lie 
did mean, by that - statement in regard to baptism, 
which has caused so much controversy in the 
church. And then I expect we will agree." To 
this he smilingly assented. 

Bro. L has gone and I am still here; but we 

have that appointment in the future, and it may 
yet be carried out. 

Early in the spring of 1865, came the glad news 
of the surrender of Lee to Grant, and the entire 
discomfiture of the Rebel host at Appomattox. A 
more eventful Sunday than this never dawned on 
our nation. The mighty structure of Rebellion, 
which had organized itself to withstand the colos- 
sal power of the North, and had attracted to it the 
eyes of the civilized world, suddenly dissolved; 
leaving only the record of daring and pride and 



KECOLLECTIONS. 353 

folly, and the sad mementoes of the most terrible 
fratricidal war this world has ever witnessed. 

It is said that on the 9th of April, when Grant 
received the letter of Lee, surrendering the army 
of northern Virginia, that "he hastened to the front 
where Lee was awaiting him. The two soldiers 
met in the parlor of a neighboring brick house, 
and saluted each other with dignified courtesy. 
Lee presented his sword, which Grant received, 
and after contemplating it a moment handed it 
back, saying: 'It can not be borne by a braver 
man!' The scene was one of intense interest. 
The younger, the victor, stood there, backed by a 
million of soldiers; the elder, vanquished, had but 
the fragment of a disheartened army left him. 
Long years before, they had fought, side by side, 
under the same dear old flag; for the last year 
they had confronted each other as foes, and strug- 
gled to overthrow each other on many a desper- 
ately contested battle-field. At their behest, men, 
by tens of thousands, had crowded the portals of 
death, and the track behind each was a long path- 
way of blood." 

This joyful intelligence, the capitulation of 
Lee, was quickly followed by news of Johnson's 
surrender to Sherman, and the close of the war 
was hailed by the nation, with a wealth of joy 
which no words can express. 

During the spring and summer, the boys in blue, 
our hero soldiers, began to return amid the wel- 
comes and honors which a grateful nation hastened 
to bestow. But it was often hard to distinguish, as 



354 RECOLLECTIONS. 

they reached their homes, which flowed the most 
freely, the tears of joy for those who returned, or 
the tears of sorrow for those who came not. And 
the only solace left to many an aching heart was, 
in remembering that — 

"On Fame's eternal camping ground, 

Their silent tents are spread. 
And Glory guards with solemn round 
The bivouac of the dead." 

The grandeur of character, manifested by Gen- 
eral Grant at, and after the close of the war, added 
new lustre to the crown of fame with which his 
brow had already been encircled. With unosten- 
tatious, manly bearing he received the grateful 
praise and loving gratitude of his own nation and 
the plaudits of the world. And when he was 
nominated for the presidency of the nation, which 
his bravery and skill under God had preserved 
"one united people," with what thunders of unani- 
mous acclaim he was once and again elected. 

How well and forcefully and yet how kindly he 
filled the difficult position to which the suffrages 
of a loyal people had lifted him, history will one 
day tell. We are still too near those times to do 
him justice. Since then he has visited the courts 
of every potentate on our globe, where civilization 
and intelligence have established a government; 
and his march around the world was like the chime 
of constantly swinging, sweet-toned bells, which 
sounded forth his honor, his fame and his man- 
liness. But he has been the same honest, 
earnest, unaffected, high-souled man. In the hour 



RECOLLECTIONS. 355 

of victory and glory, meek; and in the hour of 
adversity, sublime. 

And now, as I write, the word comes that Gen- 
eral Grant, who laid down his sword that he might 
at his country's bidding put on her civic crown, 
has at last, by act of congress, been restored to his 
rank as General. Yet, amid the gladness with 
which "Columbia re-buckles his sword," comes the 
sad, sad word that a fatal disease is on him, and 
that very soon the brave hero of Donaldson, of 
Shiloh, of Vicksburg, of the Wilderness, of Peters- 
burg and Appomattox; great in war, great in peace, 
and great in the love of his countrymen — must die! 
"Aye! Write that name grandly once more, at the head 
Of the legions his genius to victory led! 

Write it high, where the sunrise and sunset shall slant 

Their beams, on the name and the glory of Grant. 
While from ocean to ocean a continent cheers 
Its hero to-day, with huzzas and with tears!" 

While in the summer of 1865, the army was dis- 
banded, the cavalry was still kept in service. And 
Brackett's Battalion, to which my son belonged, was 
stationed at Clinton, Iowa. Early the following 
spring they were ordered to Fort Snelling and 
mustered out. Joseph had been then in the 
service five years. Soon after his return home he 
married Miss Loraine Stetson, of Clinton, Iowa, 
whose acquaintance he had formed while there with 
his battalion the winter before; and he shortly after- 
wards engaged in farming near Red Wing. He is 
now in business in Chicago. 

At the conference, held in Bed Wing, 1866, 
Bishop Scott, presiding, I was sent to the Winona 



356 RECOLLECTIONS. 

district. This was a large field, containing nine- 
teen appointments, extending for about one hund- 
red miles along the southern line of the state, and 
including six counties. This part of the country 
was mostly prairie, very difficult to travel, on 
account of deep snows in the winter and the on- 
bridged streams in the spring and summer. I left 
my family in our home at Ked Wing, and went to 
my work, endeavoring so to plan it as to bring me 
back to Ked Wing about once in four weeks. 

The charges on my district were: 

Winona, William McKinley; Stockton, W. D. 
Bennett; Plain view, W. C. Eice; Elgin, N. Tainter; 
Marion, B. Blain; Chatfield, J. E. Carighton; 
Pleasant Grove, supplied; Austin, W. Carver; 
Lansing, W. H. Soule; High Forest, W. C. Shaw; 
St. Charles, S. N. Phelps; Spring Valley, J. G. 
Teter; Preston, J. H. White; Money Creek and 
Eushford, O. P. Light; Pickwick, — Gates; Cale- 
donia, J. W. Klepper; Leonora and Eyota, J- 
Lamberson; Brownsville and Hokah, J. Door; 
La Crescent, H. G. Bilbie. 

The Winona district was my first in the Minne- 
sota conference, State of Minnesota. Of the 
brethren then on it, W. D. Bennett, J. E. Creigh- 
ton, W. Carver, J. H. White, O. P. Light, have, 
been transferred. W. C. Eice, B. Blain and S. N. 
Phelps are superannuated. William McKinley is 
at present stationed at Eed Wing. A sweet spir- 
ited, gentle, Christian brother, whose intellectual 
culture is of the highest order. He takes rank as 
one of the best, if not the very best, pulpit orators in 



RECOLLECTIONS. 357 

our conference. But his chief power and strength 
and charm lie in the depth and richness of his 
own personal religious experience. He has known 
severe affliction, and has not been exempt from the 
trials incident to the life of an itinerant; but these 
have served to develop in him the grace of char- 
acter, which comes from the possession of "the 
mind which was also in Christ Jesus." Bro. Mc- 
Kinley is at this writing having a revival among 
the young people of his church and Sunday school, 
thirty of whom rose one night recently for prayer. 

W. H. Soule is at present on the Castle Bock 
charge, and is doing good earnest work, as he 
always does. Bro. Soule is a clear, practical, 
sensible preacher, and a kindly contented spirit, 
at rest with himself and at peace with his brethren. 

John Lamberson is at Cleveland on the Man- 
kato district. A plain, earnest man, who has had 
few scholastic advantages, but who draws from his 
own fellowship with the Master, and from the 
treasures of His Word, things, both new and old, 
in such rich measure that he is a successful 
preacher and a good pastor, and has had many 
souls as seals to his ministry. 

J. Door is at Anoka, and is doing what he can 
to build up the church in that city, so lately de- 
vastated by fire; and many of whose members 
were among the sufferers. Bro. Door has been 
characterized as "a man who always leaves a charge 
in better condition than he found it." He has 
excellent business ability, and is an energetic 
worker, a good preacher and a faithful pastor. 



358 RECOLLECTIONS. 

H. G. Bilbie is on the Sauk Centre charge, 
Fergus Falls district. Bro. Bilbie is noted as 
a clear thinker, "a workman that needeth not 
to be ashamed" in handling the Word of God. 
Because of an intense desire to be right, and a very 
careful circumspection of his own heart and life, 
he is not naturally tolerant of mistakes in others. 
He is a noble man, who has overcome many diffi- 
culties, and whose "path is as the shining light 
that shineth more and more unto the perfect day." 
His only daughter, his Esther, now Mrs. Lewis, of 
the West China mission, he has given to the 
church and the work of the Lord, in that far-off 
field, with the spirit of a martyr. Bro. Bilbie seems 
to breathe, in all his ways, the spirit which ani- 
mated the great apostle, when he said: "Yea 
doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the 
excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my 
Lord." 

J. W. Klepper is stationed at Hutchinson. 
Blest with a royal physique, a good preacher and an 
earnest man, he takes rank as one who during his 
ministry has added hundreds to the church. 

J. G. Teter, now serving his third year at Simp- 
son church, Minneapolis, was then in his earlier 
ministry. A true hearted, earnest laborer in his 
Master's vineyard. Bro. Teter has made a good 
record in the conference; and has been a success- 
ful preacher of the Word of Life. There are none 
among the brethren entitled to more confidence 
and respect for his work's sake, than he. Two 
brothers, Gates and Shaw, have left our ranks 



RECOLLECTIONS. 359 

here, for the better land. Of Bro. Gates' death I 
have no particulars. Bro. Shaw had a triumphant 
departure, a fitting ending to his saintly life. 

Before I had quite finished the first round on 
my district, it was necessary for me to meet the 
General Mission board in New York, which I did 
early in November. I was again, by special invi- 
tation, the guest, for the third time, of my friends 
S. P. Patterson and family; and spent a week 
with them in the intervals of our business sessions; 
as I had also done the November preceding this 
visit. 

The responsibilities of the board were such that 
it required the greatest care and much wisdom in 
making the appropriations and arranging the mis- 
sion field; the foreign and domestic work having 
greatly enlarged. Bishop Janes was at this time 
especially desirous that steps should be taken to- 
ward opening a mission in Paris, France. For this 
purpose and that,if possible, an appropriation should 
be made for it, he plead earnestly and forcibly. 
But the majority of the board, though acknowledg- 
ing the great need of thoroughly evangelizing 
France, could not adopt the bishop's views, nor 
arrange to establish a mission field there at that 
time. 

On Sabbath morning I preached on the west 
side of the city in Janes' street church, I think, 
and in the evening, in company with Dr. Wm. 
Butler, then lately returned from India, assisted 
in holding a missionary meeting at Hanson Place 



360 RECOLLECTIONS. 

church, Brooklyn, where a good collection was 
taken and an excellent impression made. 

Returning home, I resumed my district work, 
finishing up my first round; and then remaining 
two nights and one day there, and leaving all in 
apparent health, started off on Thursday morn- 
ing before daylight. 

The snow was falling fast as I set out with a 
two-horse sleigh. Those who are familiar with 
the route traveled from Red Wing to Marion, 
thence to Pleasant Grove, High Forest, Lansing 
and Austin, will have some idea of this trip. The 
snow was more than two feet deep on a level; 
badly drifted on the prairies, and the thermometer, 
from ten to thirty-five degrees below zero. It was 
simply awful. And when I started out from High 
Forest to Lansing, sixteen miles, across a prairie 
with a stretch of twelve miles in which there was 
not a house, I had some misgivings as to the pos- 
sibility of getting through. But committing my 
way to Him, who had led me through so many 
dangers, and with a desperate effort breaking my 
way again and again, shoveling, and wallowing 
through drifts, after a good deal of suffering, I 
reached Lansing. 

On Sabbath I held the quarterly meeting at 
Austin; returned in the evening to the home of 
Rev. W. Carver, and about ten o'clock was prepar- 
ing to retire, when my son Joseph arrived, and in- 
formed me, that on the Wednesday before, January 
23d, my dear wife had died of apoplexy. 

Those only who have been as suddenly bereft, 



RECOLLECTIONS. 361 

by whom the shock has been as little anticipated; 
and those who have drained the same bitter cup, 
can only tell what were my feelings in that hour 
of anguish. As the memory of that night of sor- 
row comes to me, I can still only refer to my 
grief in the words of the Psalmist: "I was 
dumb with silence because Thou didst it." 

We had parted some ten days before in the early 
morning, each in apparent health, and with smiles 
and cheerful words had said "good bye." We 
had been married nearly thirty-three years. My 
dear wife had been a member of the church 
for some time before we were united, 
and when we were married she expected 
to be a farmer's wife. But she bore the 
burdens and responsibilities of an itinerant Meth- 
dist preacher's wife, willingly and to the best of 
her ability. Almost the last work of her life was 
to visit her pastor, Dr. Cyrus Brooks, and arrange 
with him for a woman's prayer meeting to be held 
in the parlors of the M. E. church. Her faith in 
Christ was abiding and she never deviated from 
her purpose of living a Christian life. Four of 
our little ones had preceded her to the better land ; 
two of whom she had laid away, alone, during my 
absence at conference. It has been no small con- 
solation for me, since her death, to think of her 
as being with the children whom she loved and 
lost so early, safely housed in our Father's home 
of many mansions. 

My son had worn out two horses in his efforts to 
reach me on horseback. These must be returned. 

24 



362 RECOLLECTIONS. 

So with an additional fall of eight inches of snow, 
we set out with a horse to lead, and on Wednesday 
reached Bed Wing. 

Here I found that kind friends had made all 
needful preparations for the funeral; and the next 
day my dear wife was laid away in the Red Wing 
cemetery to await "the resurrection of the just." 

Changes in all our home plans must now be 
made. My daughter was attending the university 
and my Willie was at school. I made such ar- 
rangements for their comfort as I could, without 
interrupting their studies; rented my house, sent 
my furniture out to my son, on the farm, and in 
three weeks was on my district again, sadly con- 
scious of my loneliness, and the breaking up of 
my home and its associations. 

I found that the pressing work, which necessari- 
ly occupied my time and thought, was a great 
blessing to me. The revivals which soon began on 
almost every charge of the district, engaged my 
constant attention and interest, and were very 
beneficial to me. So God graciously helped me. 

In this connection I very gratefully recall the 
sympathy and helpfulness of my brethren, and the 
kindness with which the good sisters attended to 
my washing and mending, and saw to it that I 
should not suffer for lack of care. 

In the spring I returned to Red Wing, and while 
visiting the children, was entertained at the home 
of my good friend and neighbor, Mr. Wm. Howe. 
Again arranging for my daughter and son, as the 
summer vacation was at hand, I sent Willie out to 



RECOLLECTIONS. 363 

remain with his brother on the farm, and took 
Mary with me on the district. We both enjoyed 
this change; to her it was like seeing a new world, 
everything was strange and bright, and her joyous- 
ness and company were a cheery relief to me. 

The summer passed. I was occupied with quar- 
terly meetings every Saturday and Sabbath; many 
week day meetings and a camp-meeting at Pleasant 
Grove. During this meeting, at which many found 
the Lord, Bro. Teter became greatly interested for 
the salvation of a friend, whose wife was a member 
of his charge. This was a man of considerable 
intelligence, and sufficiently convicted to know and 
do his duty ; but he could not be persuaded to 
come out squarely and commence a religious life. 
He was a good singer; delighted in helping in that 
part of our religious service, and was always very 
kind and friendly. Before preaching on Sunday 
evening, Bro. Teter had invited him into the altar 
to help him in a song service before the sermon. 
Soon the altar and all the seats were filled by the 
large congregation, and he became uneasy at being 
in just that location during the preaching; but Bro. 
Teter persuaded him to remain where he was. 

The Lord helped me in the sermon, and the 
exhortation which followed was with power. When 
seekers were invited forward, again Mr. Teter' s 
friend rose to get away; but he found he could not 
move. His strength was gone! He made another 
effort to rise; but he could not, and then he sank 
on his knees and began to pray most earnestly. 
In about twenty minutes he lay perfectly helpless, 



364 KECOLLECTIONS. 

and apparently unconscious. He remained thus 
until after the close of the meeting, perhaps, in all, 
three hours; then he came out, one of the happi- 
est of men. I heard of him several years after- 
wards, living a faithful Christian. 

During this summer, the rains were very heavy 
and the creeks and rivers unusually high, especial- 
ly in Mower county, which included the head 
waters of the Root and Cedar rivers But by ford- 
ing, swimming and driving around, I succeeded in 
reaching every appointment. 

The year on the whole was a prosperous one. 
We had made advancement in every department 
of church work and life, and had a considerable 
number added to the church. 



RECOLLECTIONS. 365 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

(Q|UR conference met at Rochester; Bishop Simp- 
Vp son, presiding. Rev. T. M. Eddy was with 
us, and he never preached better than he did then. 
It was a time of such moral power, as few towns or 
conferences have witnessed or enjoyed. 

The bishop preached on Sunday as only Bishop 
Simpson could preach; and the entire city felt the 
influence of it. The text was, Matt. XXYIIL, 16-18. 
It was a wonderful discourse. The tide of sym- 
pathy in the heart of the bishop broke in streams 
and eddies and waves over the hearts of his hear- 
ers. His main thought was the supervision which 
God exercises over the affairs of this world: over 
good men and evil men, and making all things 
work out the good purpose and pleasure of His 
will. 

We were occupying, on that Sunday, a 
large hall, built by a Mr. Haney. Some of the 
lower part was used as a saloon, and the large 
room in which the bishop spoke (the only availa- 
ble place to be had in the city), had been intended 
for anything but sacred purposes. Among the 
bishop's illustrations, when speaking of how the 
wickedness of wicked men could be overruled for 



366 KEOOLLECTIONS. 

good, he said: "The gentleman Avho built this hall 
did not intend by it to assist in the spread of the 
gospel of the Son of God. But see how it is made 
to serve the purpose of our God. See how are 
gathered in it those whose souls are drinking in, 
this day, the water of life. Here it is, ready for 
us to use in the service of God." 

The afternoon, at the ordination of elders, was 
the time of greatest power. Our hearts had been 
already mightily moved. Everybody was in a 
tender mood, when the bishop, at the conclusion 
of the service, turned to the choir, a very fine one, 
and which had rendered the music in a superior 
spirit and style, and addressed them in the most 
pathetic and eloquent manner. Among other 
touching things which he said, after complimenting 
them on the delightful singing they had given us, 
he inquired if they could consent that such 
powers should be employed in anything less than 
the service of God. Words cannot picture the 
scene of that hour: the choir in tears; the great 
audience all broken down; the brethren some of 
them so overcome with emotion, that they 
could only sob; others, among whom was our Bro. 
Bolles, lying down in an extacy of love and praise; 
the bishop, his whole soul filled with sympathy 
and earnest effort to lead those young people to 
Christ, pleading with them to yield their lives to 
the glorious service of their God ; telling them that 
by and by, if faithful, with the great host of 
the redeemed, they, too, should come home "with 
songs and everlasting joy" upon their heads! 



RECOLLECTIONS. 367 

I was at this conference elected, for the fifth 
time, a delegate to the General conference, which 
was to meet at Chicago, May, 1868. I returned to 
my work on the district for the second year; and 
was busily employed until the time for the meet- 
ing of the mission board at New York, in Novem- 
ber. Again we devoted our best energies to the 
broadening mission fields. Africa, especially the 
work as it had been prosecuted in Liberia, was a 
matter of serious consideration. The Scandina- 
vian mission had assumed such conditions, particu- 
larly the church building in Copenhagen, as need- 
ed great care in its adjustment. The claims of 
France as a mission, came up, and, on the whole, 
we put in nearly a week of about as earnest an ef- 
fort in the supervision of our great church enter- 
prise as we knew how. 

Again I was the guest of my friends, the Patter- 
sons; with whom by this time I had come to feel 
myself an old acquaintance, having shared the 
hospitalities of their pleasant home for four years 
in succession. 

This was my last attendance as a member of the 
mission board. And in reviewing the work of my 
four years' connection with it, I congratulate my- 
self in having been able to place the claims of the 
great Northwest, before that body, more fully, 
than they had been before. And as a consequence, 
the appropriation to the Minnesota conference had 
been increased from twenty-five hundred, in 1863, 
to seven thousand, in 1867. And the appropria- 
tion to the "Northwest Wisconsin," from a mere 



368 BEOOLLECTIONS. 

nominal sum, to an amount corresponding with the 
necessities of the work. 

All the conferences, which I had the honor of 
representing in that board, had their interests 
carefully attended to, and their appropriations 
were increased. This was in part owing to the in- 
crease in population, which demanded the extra 
appropriations; but I also may claim, and justly, 
I think, that the fact that the great district 
which included the Northwest was, for those four 
years, represented by a man who knew its needs; 
and who had himself been at the beginning of our 
Methodism in the frontier states and territories; 
had also a share in the increased appropriations 
which they then received, and of which they still 
share the benefits. 

After returning from New York, I commenced 
at once to assist the brethren in the protracted 
meetings, which soon began to gladden every 
charge. I had held the quarterly meeting at 
Money creek, and was coming to Winona to hold 
my meeting there. In order to do so, had to ride 
over the "high ridge." It was one of the bleakest, 
coldest, dampest days of January. I became 
thoroughly chilled, and on reaching Winona, after 
a ride of about fifteen miles, I was conscious that 
I had taken cold, and was ill. I was being enter- 
tained at the house of my friend and brother, M. 
G. Norton, Esq., and telling him that I feared I 
was going to be sick, requested permission to re- 
tire to my room, and also that I might have a tub 
of hot water and a little tincture of lobelia. All 



RECOLLECTIONS. 369 

these were readily granted, and very much more. 
After four days of good nursing and of as deter- 
mined an effort as I could make, with vigorous 
applications of hot water, I was able to leave my 
room, and was pronounced convalescent. 

I was the recipient then, as I have frequently 
been since, of many kindnesses from Bro. Matthew 
Norton. And to both the brothers, James L. and 
M.G.Norton, and their excellent wives, I am under a 
debt of gratitude, which has been accumulating 
with almost every year of our acquaintance, and • 
which, I fear, I shall never be able to repay. In- 
deed, as business men, as Christian gentlemen, as 
loyal Methodists, as exemplars, in their inter- 
course with others, of the "Golden Eule," as fol- 
lowers of whatsoever things are true, honest, just, 
pure, lovely, and of good report, these dear breth- 
ren, in whose hearts and homes the peace of God 
reigns, are my model men. They are also pillars 
of the cKurch, and the supporters and upholders 
of every thing that is good. In these two brothers 
the ministers of our church have always had help- 
ful, encouraging friends; the poor and the needy, 
generous assistants. They have built, with their J\ 
own means, the M. E. church, Wesley chapel, at 
the southern part of the city of Winona. And 
these liberal souled brothers have also maintained 
preaching and a preacher at Beef Slough, 
Wisconsin; at which place they have large lumber 
interests. And at this point also, they have built 
a church. And as these Christian men have 
honored God with their substance and in their 



370 RECOLLECTIONS. 

lives, so has He honored them and blessed them 
abundantly. Sons and daughters are growing up 
around them, who are in the church, and who bid 
fair to follow in the footsteps of their fathers and 
mothers, serving God, and living useful, honorable 
lives. 

Having sufficiently recovered, I resumed the 
second round on my district. When it came to 
the Winona quarterly meeting, which as usual 
there, was an excellent one, the friends requested 
me to remain with them a few days. I agreed on 
condition that the meeting would be continued. 
This was done and I remained and preached. 

On Monday evening after the sermon, Bro. Mc- 
Kinley took charge, and as I supposed, to conduct 
a prayer meeting. To my astonishment he went 
to a table in the altar, and uncovering it, began 
to address me, saying that the preachers and 
friends in the district, as an expression of their 
regard and confidence, had requested him to 
present me with the American Encyclopaedia — 
twenty-one elegant quarto volumes, bound in calf. 
This valuable gift was highly appreciated by me 
for its own worth; but it was still more valuable as 
an expression of kindness and good will from 
those with whom I had labored. 

In attending the four General conferences, from 
1852 to 1864, with many others the conviction 
was strong in my mind, that something ought to be 
done to relieve that body from the care, responsi- 
bility and loss of time, involved in the hearing and 
determining of the many appeals, which had come 



RECOLLECTIONS. 371 

up, and would be likely to come up, during each 
quadrennial; also so to arrange as to avoid the 
great injustice done an appellant, in being virtually 
suspended from the ministry (as had occurred in 
several cases), for nearly four years before an ap- 
peal could be tried. And still further, to perfect 
our judicial system, that there was need of an 
arrangement by which a bishop might have a trial 
and an appeal in case of accusation. 

To meet these defects in our ecclesiastical polity, 
I originated and published, in the "Christian Ad- 
vocate," in March, 1868, substantially what now 
relates to the subjects alluded to, with on]y this 
slight difference: that those who are now in the 
Discipline called "triers of appeals," were named 
in my plan, "judicial delegates." When the Gen- 
eral conference met at Chicago, this subject was 
taken up by the "committee on revivals," and after 
being most thoroughly scrutinized by Revs. Merrill, 
of Ohio, and Hester, of Indiana, was reported to 
the conference and published in the "Daily Advo- 
cate." When it came to be acted on, however, it 
lacked a few votes of becoming a law, greatly to 
my regret. But four years after, in 1872, Dr. 
Miley took up the report; made a few alterations, 
and secured its adoption by the General confer- 
ence, much to our advantage. And while a few 
have since thought that this could be amended, 
yet it has for twelve years met its requirements 
fairly, and its defects have not yet suggested the 
need of change. m 

This was about my last work for the church, in 



372 KECOLLECTIONS. 

the line of legislation. And it is a source of glad- 
ness and gratitude, that I have been able, in any 
measure, to add to the greater success and effi- 
ciency of the Methodist Episcopal church, the 
grandest organization of the ages, and to whose 
service I would gladly give another fifty years of 
labor, if I could. 

On the 29th of April, 1868, I was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Harriet A. Duncan, of New York, 
by Eev. David Terry, D. D., at the residence of 
her brother-in-law, S. P. Patterson, Esq. My wife 
accompanied me to the General conference at 
Chicago, and while there, we were entertained at 
the< home of my old and valued friends, William 
Wheeler and wife. We had also the pleasure of 
making the acquaintance of Rev. Morley Punshon, 
who was likewise the guest of Brother and Sister 
Wheeler. 

Dr. Punshon was a delegate to the General con- 
ference from the Wesleyan Methodist church of 
England. His address before the conference, on 
being introduced, will never, I think, be forgotten 
by those who heard it. Its clear and elegant dic- 
tion, its sweet, brotherly spirit, its entire absence 
of everything like assumption, and its masterful 
eloquence, as well as scholarly oratory, made it a 
very "gem of beauty and a joy forever." We also 
had the pleasure of hearing him deliver his lecture 
on "Daniel," in the opera house, before an im- 
mense audience. In this he established, still 
further, his reputation among us, «as a very prince 
of orators. 



RECOLLECTIONS. 373 

The status of delegates, representing Mission 
conferences, which had been formed at the South, 
occupied considerable time and called forth earnest 
discussion, during the first days of our session. 
This was settled by their admission. Then came 
up the question of lay delegation, which, at the 
request of the laymen themselves, had been settled 
in the negative by the conference of 1860. But the 
agitation had been kept up mostly by the news- 
papers, especially "The Methodist;" so that while it 
was apparent that the laity were indifferent on the 
subject and that the interest in the movement was 
kept up by the ministry, many of whom saw or 
thought they saw, great advantages to be derived 
from it — yet it must needs be brought up for action 
again. 

Many, many speeches were made, good, bad and 
indifferent. Some put forth their first attempts in 
the conference on this subject, and some debated 
it, who had already won many a well fought battle 
on that field. Among those who obtained the floor, 
and attempted to make an address, was Peter Cart- 
wright. But it could not be done; his age and in- 
firmities obliged him to desist. There was some- 
thing more than pathetic, about this last public 
effort of this old hero. Laboring under the weight 
of years, tremulous and yet eager to lead where he 
had so often led before, staff in hand, his eyes 
bright, the soul life unabated, but the fleshy taber- 
nacle so decayed, that neither voice nor strength 
would obey the will of the aged veteran. 

After hearing all sides of the question, provision 



374 EECOLLECTIONS. 

was made for taking the vote of the church on lay 
delegation, and as there never had been any serious 
opposition to it, it was readily incorporated into 
our economy. This change has been in operation 
for about twelve years, and of it we can affirm that 
it has done no harm. We can also assert, just as 
truly, that about the greatest good it has accom- 
plished is that in has ended agitation on the sub- 
ject and kept hobby riders in the church, quiet for 
a time. 

If liberality to the benevolences of the church 
had been increased, or if revivals had become more 
frequent, thorough, and further reaching in their 
influences, if a higher standard of personal piety 
in the membership, or greater efficiency in the 
ministry had prevailed since its adoption, then it 
might be admitted that the measure of lay dele- 
gation was what its advocates claimed it would be 
— of untold advantage to the church. 

There was some idea that the requirements of 
our Methodism would necessitate the election of 
two or three additional bishops at this conference; 
but the report of the committee on "Episcopacy," 
in accordance with the judgment of the bishops, 
was that the present number could meet the de- 
.mands of the church for the next four years. 
This was a case in which it would seem that the 
spirit of prophecy did not rest upon the church; 
for at the end of the next four years, three of the 
bishops were in their graves, and the remaining 
five, nearly ready to drop into theirs, from the 
amount of extra labor they had performed, and the 



RECOLLECTIONS. 375 

tremendous strain they had endured, in their own 
work. 

During the conference we spent a Sabbath at 
Jacksonville, and were the guests of my old and 
tried friends, Judge Thomas, and wife. I 
preached in the same old church, in which I had 
been stationed, twenty-five years before, and also in 
the New Westside church. In the evening I met 
very many of my former friends and we rejoiced 
together. But the quarter of a century had made 
such changes that there was to me an undertone of 
sadness, and a missing of the old, accustomed faces 
and places, which impressed me with an unwonted 
consciousness of our mortality, and the transitori- 
ness of earthly things. I met here also my dear 
friends, Wm. C. Stribbling and wife; but found 
them feeble and only the shadows of their former 
vigorous selves. Bro. Stribbling died not long 
after. 

Dr. T. M. Eddy was nominated as secretary of 
the Church Extension society, by a large ma- 
jority, in a caucus held by the western delegates. 
But he refused to allow his name to be used, when 
it came to be voted on, and Dr. Kynett was elected 
to that position. 

Dr. J. M. Reid, who had successfully edited the 
"Western Christian Advocate," was elected editor 
of the "Northwestern Christian Advocate," and 
Dr. B. F. Crary, editor of the "Central Advocate." 
A few more changes were made, items of unfinish- 
ed business taken up, and the Fifteenth General 
conference of the M. E. church closed: the dele- 



376 RECOLLECTIONS. 

gates separated; the bishops departed to their 
duties; never roore all to meet again on earth. 

We were soon en route for Red Wing. 
After seeing the children we started off with colts 
and buggy for the district. Mrs. Hobart, who had 
known nothing of country life, found the ex- 
perience of the next five months rather novel. 
The change from twenty-five years of teaching* 
school in the city of New York, to riding daily over 
the prairies and valleys of Minnesota, was an ex- 
perience something like entering into a ne sv world. 

It was early June when we set out to travel the 
district together. Minnesota was in her loveliest 
attire. The spring had been warm and the season 
forward; everything was clothed with verdure, and 
the melody of the meadow-larks, orioles, cat-birds 
and chirping sparrows, with the fragrance of wild 
flowers springing up everywhere made her wish, 
"that all New York for this summer at least, could 
be turned loose in Minnesota." The immense 
wheat fields which by the end of July were laden 
with their golden grain were an occasion of great 
enjoyment; and an object lesson of such beauty as 
she thought could only be appreciated thoroughly 
by one who had spent life shut up in a great city. 

We journeyed on, holding the meetings at the 
various points, and a camp-meeting at Pleasant 
Grove, until the commencement exercises of Ham- 
line university at Red Wing, in June. My 
daughter then graduated, and we attended the exer- 
cices, which we greatly enjoyed. Then we con- 
tinued our work on the district until September, 



RECOLLECTIONS. 377 

only varying it by an occasional drive to Winona 
where we received ou* mail and where we enjoyed, 
occasionally, the society and the hospitalities of our 
friends the Nortons, Simpsons, Drews, Fryes, 
Brinks, and others. 

Our conference met that year at St. Anthony; 
Bishop Ames, presiding. We had a harmonious 
and profitable session. There had been progress 
all along the lines of enterprise and endeavor, and 
much to encourage us. At the last meeting of the 
cabinet, when all the appointments, excepting 
those of the districts, had been "fixed," I ventured 
to call the attention of the bishop to these. And 
giving them his immediate attention, he arranged 
them all, until he came to Winona. Pausing there, 
I inquired whether the same appointee (myself) 
would be continued. To this, in his own dry, slow, 
yet humorous way, he answered: — 

"Well, I don't know that I can do any better; if 
I could I would!" 

To which I replied, "Yes, bishop: I know it is 
rather a hard case; but you understand that in a 
new country, when we cannot do as we would, we 
must do as we can! In fact, we need first-class 
men for bishops and presiding elders; but when 
we cannot get them, we must take such as we have, 
and make the most we can out of them!" This 
was our last joke. And we had seldom met with- 
out them — each of us understanding pretty well 
the calibre of the other. I have never seen the 
bishop since. He died in 1872, shortly after 
attending the General conference of that year. 

25 



f 



378 RECOLLECTIONS. 

After returning from conference we went to 
housekeeping at Winona, where I had bought a 
house. This brought us all together again; and 
the children greatly enjoyed the privilege of once 
more having a home, that they could call their 
own. My Willie, at this time a lad of eleven, 
and who for nearly two years had sadly missed the 
love and care to which he had been before accus- 
tomed, seemed particularly pleased and happy. 
He had been with us for a trip on the district 
at the close of his school term; also to con- 
ference, at St. Anthony, and he appeared to realize 
that in his second mother he had found the friend 
he needed. 

During the remainder of my time on the Winona 
district, and afterwards when on the St. Paul dis- 
trict, his mother and he were necessarily much to- 
gether, and their companionship was of the hap- 
piest character. In reviewing those formative 
years of his life, I feel assured that the love and 
care exercised by his mother, has had much to do 
in developing a character, which has been unusu- 
ally pure, true, noble and efficient. 

It is with feelings of something more than pa- 
ternal pride, that I here allude to the life of my 
son William. Remarkably docile and obedient 
from his earliest childhood, he did not need correc- 
tion nor reproof; of his own will he chose to be indus- 
trious and obedient. yOur companionship has been 
the closest and tenderest. His father and he enjoying 
each other's society ~as' if they had been brothers, 
each pleased with the pursuits and views of the 



RECOLLECTIONS. 379 

other. Converted and joining the church as a 
probationer in his eighth year, and in his twelfth 
year, at Winona, uniting in full membership, his 
entire responsible life has been that of a profess- 
ing Christian. After acquiring a good English 
and Latin course at the public schools 
of Winona, St. Paul and Minneapolis and the 
Red Wing Seminary, (Hood's) he entered the 
Northwestern university at Evanston, 111., as 
freshman, in the fall of 1875. And there took with 
honor his degree of A. M. in 1879. During his 
senior year he felt assured that he was called of 
God to preach; although for some time he had 
struggled against this conviction. But in the 
early part of that year he willingly submitted his 
will to the will of God, and wrote me: "Father, I 
may as well tell you/" The 'woe is on me.- • - 1 must 
preach."-""" 

After his graduation from the university, he 
entered Garrett Biblical institute, and took the 
Theological course; having also in addition to his 
university and Theological course, acquired a 
knowledge of French and German. During his 
two years in Garrett Biblical institute he was em- 
ployed, by Dr. Willing in city mission work in 
Chicago, with credit to himself and satisfaction to 
the people. And in the second year, while attend- 
ing a camp-meeting at Des Plaines, in connection 
with his receiving a mighty baptism~~of the Holy 
Spirit, he felt that the Lord called him to a foreign 
field. "He was not disobedient to the heavenly 
vision," but at once allowed it to be understood, 



380 RECOLLECTIONS. 

that if he were needed for that work, he was wil- 
ling to gof' His mother, believing that after six 
years of continuous application to study he should 
at least wait for a year before entering upon so 
great an undertaking as the study of the 
Chinese language and the labors of a missionary 
in that field (for to this he had been assigned by 
Bishop Wiley), advised that he rest at home for 
the three months preceding the Minnesota Annual 
conference of 1881, and if he judged best, take 
work in that conference for a year. This he did, 
and in 1881, was received on trial and appointed 
by the Minnesota conference to Worthington. 
He entered upon this work with his usual thor- 
oughness; built up and established the Methodist 
church in that place, where without a house 
of worship and under many difficulties, the 
society had been much discouraged; and 
nearly completed a substantial and tasteful 
church, on which he had labored assiduously, 
before the end of June. In August, 1882, he was 
united in marriage to Miss Emily M. Hatfield, 
second daughter of Dr. E. M. Hatfield, of Evans- 
ton, 111. And early in September they sailed for 
China. To say that the announcement of his hav- 
ing chosen a foreign field, was a shock and a sur- 
prise to me, does not begin to tell how my poor 
heart had to struggle for submission, when I learned 
that the dear son, on whom I had leaned as an 
earthly prop, and in whose society I had hoped to 
spend the evening of my life; of whom I had always 
thought as caring for me when no longer able to 



RECOLLECTIONS. 381 

provide for myself — was to leave me, in all human 
probability, forev^fr I could only turn to Him, who 
had been my "staff and stay through many years 
and trials, and say, "Thy will be done!" 

Later, as we became more accustomed to the 
thought of the separation, we blessed the Lord 
who had counted us worthy, not only to rear up a 
son to serve Him, but that He had permitted us to 
suffer for His sake. I think I may add that to his 
mother and me, earth has seemed more empty 
and Heaven more attractive since the departure of 
our dear son to China. 

During the winter of 1868-9 there were revivals 
on almost every charge on the district. The 
preachers were earnest and faithful, and our quar- 
terly meetings, seasons of refreshing from the 
Lord. We held two camp-meetings this year, 
which were blessed to the spiritual profit of many, 
the conversion of souls and the enlargement of the 
church. I drove my own team in going to my ap- 
pointments this year and generally was able to 
spend a day or two at home each week. 

The conference of 1869 was held in Minneapolis ; 
Bishop Scott, presiding; from which I was sent to 
the Winona station. On the whole, this was not 
to me a satisfactory year, so far as the result of my 
labor was concerned. My work in the pulpit, if I 
am able to judge of it, was done as well and as faith- 
fully as heretofore. The congregations were good, 
the Word seemed to be blessed; and the testimony 
of many was that they were being built up and 
established in the faith. The prayer meetings 



382 KECOLLECTIONS. 

were well attended, perhaps never better. The 
Sunday school was large, well organized and pros- 
pering in every department; unusually so in the 
Bible classes and the infant class. The latter, 
of which my wife was teacher, assisted by Mrs. Dr. 
Welch, was one of the largest and most interesting 
I have known, at some seasons averaging nearly 
one hundred in attendance. And yet there were 
certain influences at work, which hedged up a re- 
vival, and which created an atmosphere, new 
as it was, uncomfortable to me. But one, and not 
the least of the desirable features of our economy, 
is the facility with which disagreeable arrange- 
ments can be adjusted so as to release all em- 
barrassed parties. And so, greatly to my satisfac- 
tion, although somewhat grieved and disappointed 
at not having seen such a result of the year's work 
as I had hoped to see, I finished it and went to 
conference. 

At the conference of 1870, held at Owatonna, 
Bishop Clarke, presiding, I was sent to the St. 
Paul district, which then included St. Paul and 
Minneapolis, and most of the state north of these 
twin cities. This was an immense district; but 
with the new and improved order of things, brought 
about by the railroads, it was comparatively easily 
traveled. 

The opening of the Northern Pacific and the St. 
Paul & Duluth railroads, had resulted in the 
building up of a city on the Minnesota shore of 
Lake Superior. The site, selected for this great 
city that was to be, was a bluff of solid granite, 



RECOLLECTIONS. 383 

slightly covered with soil; rising somewhat 
abruptly from the shore to a height of 
about seven hundred feet in the first three- 
quarters of a mile: covered with a thick 
growth of cedar, pine, spruce, and balsam, mingled 
with a variety of the hard woods. This beautiful, 
rocky, romantic, picturesque, and unlikely place 
for a city, with an atmosphere that was raw, blus- 
tery and cold nine months of the year, and at the 
head of the "unsalted sea" of the north, which it 
overlooks, was one of my charges, and an entirely 
new one. 

As the population was rapidly increasing, and 
there was every prospect of its becoming a busi- 
ness point of considerable magnitude, it was need- 
ful to send to it a Methodist preacher, who would 
there take steps toward the erection of a church 
edifice; consequently, Rev. Harvey Webb was ap- 
pointed to Duluth. He soon succeeded in 
obtaining a donation of two very eligible lots, and 
in building a substantial church. This was dedi- 
cated by Dr. J. M. Reid, the next year, my second 
on the district. 

Another point of growing interest on my work 
that year, was Superior City. This was located on 
the Wisconsin shore of the lake, and was long sup- 
posed to be the only possible place at the head of the 
lake, where a city could be built. This city, with 
Oneota, a little village four miles west of Duluth, 
was under the pastoral care of Rev. J. R. Creighton, 
At the latter, we succeeded in building a snug little 
church. At the other extreme of the district, the 



384 RECOLLECTIONS. 

Minneapolis end, Eev. J. F. Chaffee, was building 
the Seventh street church, now "Thirteenth 
avenue," which, with the new and commodious Cen- 
tenary church, were all that Ave had in the city. 

The year was a busy one, but the work grew, and 
the faith of the people was becoming stronger in 
God and in the Methodist church. 

The conference of 1871, was held in Mankato; 
Bishop Simpson, presiding. Returning to the 
district for the second year, I found that I had the 
advantage of a year's knowledge to assist me in this 
extensive field. This year we sent a man to Bay- 
field, whose work included Ashland, eighteen miles 
south, at the head of Chequamegon bay; and Rev. 
W. D. Bennett took charge of the church there. 

Ashland, at this time, contained about twenty- 
five houses. The people were then engaged in 
building a pier which would extend a quarter of a 
mile out into the bay; and the town was just on 
the edge of its rising "boom." Here I held the 
third quarterly meeting for the charge and had 
the honor of preaching the first sermon ever heard 
in that place. This city, on the south side of Lake 
Superior, one hundred miles from its head, is now 
the terminus of the Wisconsin Central railroad, 
and a city of considerable importance. 

In August I was requested to meet Bishops Ames 
and Gilbert Haven, at Duluth, and accompany 
them west, along the Northern Pacific railway. Ac- 
cordingly, I arranged to do so, and met Bishop 
Haven (Bishop Ames being detained by family 
affliction), and in company with Rev. H. J. Crist, 



RECOLLECTIONS. 385 

then stationed at Duluth, and Bro. Merritt, of 
Oneota, took the train to Brainerd, where we re- 
mained until late in the afternoon. Thence, by a 
freight train, we rode as far as Wadena; staid all 
night, and slept in blankets on the floor. The 
next day we went on to Glyndon, where the bishop 
had made an appointment to preach, and he re- 
mained there. The rest of us went on to Moor- 
head and Fargo. At Moorhead we left an appoint- 
ment with the Presbyterian preacher for the bishop 
to preach at that place the next evening. We re- 
mained at Fargo over night in a log hotel ; and it 
was arranged that I should preach there the next 
day, at 5 P. M. Fargo then consisted of four or five 
houses, and about eighty cloth tents. 

In the morning, we took a construction train and 
went west sixty miles, to where they were driving 
the spikes on the road. The bishop remained at 
Glyndon, waiting for the west bound train. This 
was a royal ride across the valley of the Red river, 
probably one of the richest bodies of alluvial soil 
on this continent or in the world. This valley is 
over two hundred miles long, and from eighty to 
one hundred and twenty wide. Taking the train 
on its return, reached Fargo in time for my appoint- 
ment. Observing two small houses near each 
other, and furnished with porches, I took my stand 
in the street before them. I then stuck my cane 
in the ground, and hung my hat on it, for a pulpit, 
and preached from Deut. XXXIL, 47: "For it is 
not a vain thing for you; because it is your life." 
This was the first sermon preached in Fargo. 



386 RECOLLECTIONS. 

The next day, the bishop having preached in 
Moorhead the night before, we took the stage for 
Frog Point, forty miles north, and there took the 
boat for Fort Garry and Winnipeg. On our arrival 
we were hospitably entertained by Rev. Mr. Young, 
the minister of the Wesleyan Methodist church of 
Winnipeg. The following day being Sunday, it 
was planned that the bishop should preach for Mr. 
Young at Winnipeg in the morning; and that I 
should, at the same hour, fill an appointment of 
his, some twelve miles up the Assiniboine river on 
the north side, and return to the city and preach 
there at night. 

On Sunday morning I was driven by a son of 
Mr. Young, through a beautiful country called the 
"Highlands;" a fine elevation of about twenty-five 
feet. Here I preached, and returned in time for 
tea and preached, as arranged, at night. 

On Monday morning in company with our con- 
sul, Mr. Taylor, and the rest of our party, we crossed 
the Red river: visited the residence of the Roman 
Catholic bishops; re-crossed the river and walked 
several miles down the west side; called on the 
Rev. Mr. Black, the Scotch Presbyterian minister, 
and were shown his college building; passed on 
down through what is known as the "Selkirk 
settlement," which had been commenced more 
than fifty years before. Here we saw wheat fields, 
where the forty-ninth consecutive crop was just 
ready to be harvested, yielding as I afterwards 
learned, thirty-four bushels to the acre. On in- 
quiring I learned from Mr. Tate, an intelligent 



RECOLLECTIONS. 387 

Scotch farmer, with whom I conversed, that these 
farms had never been summer-fallowed, never sub- 
soiled, never manured, and had borne on, bounti- 
fully, for fifty years. 

We walked down nearly ten miles through the 
"Selkirk settlement," and went on board the steam- 
boat which had come down as per arrangement 
of our friends for our accommodation, and steamed 
up to Fort Garry. This Fort stands on the north 
bank of the Assiniboine, and about a quarter of a 
mile from the Eed river. Near this we parted 
from our kind host, and journeying on reached 
Frog Point, the second morning, having passed 
the forts on either side of the British line at 
Pembina; stopping at Grand Forks, and other 
landings, which have since become important 
towns. We reached Moorhead by stage, in time 
to take the train to Duluth and thence to Min- 
neapolis. 

Bishop Haven spent one day at White Earth 
Agency and then joined me at Minneapolis and 
having until the evening, before being obliged to 
leave for the West Wisconsin conference; we in- 
vited some twelve or more of the preachers to dine 
with the bishop at our house. This was a very en- 
joyable occasion, and was rendered still more so, 
by a drive to Minnehaha in the afternoon; at 
which place, with a background formed by the 
Laughing Waters and the tall trees, we had a 
photograph taken of our dear bishop, in a group 
of Minnesota preachers. 



388 RECOLLECTIONS. 

The conference met soon after our return, at 
Winona; Bishop Gilbert Haven, presiding. 

Here the new dispensation of steam was inaugu- 
rated in the laying out of districts; some of which 
were now made to extend hundreds of miles along 
the lines of the railroads. The number of the 
charges was greatly increased in each; and the old 
idea of quarterly meetings at which the presiding 
elder was to preach on Saturday, p. M., hold the 
quarterly conference afterwards, then preach at 
night, and on Sabbath, have love-feast at 9 o'clock 
A. M., preaching by the "elder" at 10:30, and then 
the sacrament,— became a thing of the past. 

By some of us, of the old school, this has been 
so long a cherished, because a helpful and blessed, 
order of religious service, that the new course al- 
though it comes heralded by the era of steam, 
does not quite satisfy us. We miss the ardor and 
the earnestness. While the preparation for, and 
the sacrifice often to attend, made the occasion of 
the quarterly meetings and the coming of the 
presiding elder, matters of importance. Then, 
too, because of the anticipated blessing, it was al- 
most always received. From these means of grace, 
souls went out stronger in the Lord and "the, 
power of His might," and conscious of a loyalty 
to and love for Methodism, in consequence of par- 
ticipation in these her peculiar and time honored 
services. There also it was expected that souls 
would be converted, and we were not disappointed; 
hundreds having found Christ in the pardon of 
sins at our quarterly meetings. Then, too, the 



RECOLLECTIONS. 389 

presiding elders selected were supposed to be the 
wisest and ablest men in the ministry. And the 
people and the preachers welcomed their presence 
as a benefit and a benediction. But now in the 
newer order of things, a presiding elder who has to 
meet forty or fifty quarterly conferences each 
quarter, can be but little more than an ecclesi- 
astical marshal, whose business it is, to nab of- 
fenders and collect his salary. And the quarterly 
meetings are matters of no special importance. 
The St. Paul district this year included all the 
country along the line of the Manitoba railroad as 
far as Evansville; although the road was only 
completed to Melrose; leaving about eighty miles 
to Parker Prairie, where we had a charge, to be 
traveled as best it could be. 

In the preceding summer, while the Seventh 
street church was not yet completed in Minne- 
apolis, and the city rapidly extending south and 
west, Mrs. Hobart and myself visited the neigh- 
borhoods and families in those directions, for the 
purpose of organizing a Sunday school. "We were 
successful beyond our expectations. Our project 
was received with eagerness by very many fami- 
lies; several of them Methodists, who, living at so 
great a (distance from "Centenary," could not take 
their young children there to church, neither 
could they leaA'e them to go themselves. Many of 
these families were just beginning life; and the 
little homes which they had built had cost about 
all that they then had to expend, and to dress, 



390 RECOLLECTIONS. 

as they supposed, suitably, to attend "Centenary" 
was beyond their means. 

We soon secured the use of an unfinished house 
from a Mr. Harrison, who did not expect his fami- 
ly on from the east until the fall. And sending 
out word to the people whom we had visited, we 
opened our little school about the middle of July. 
Mr. James Wyman, a young man who had come to 
make his home in Minneapolis a short time before, 
was enlisted as superintendent. The attendance 
increased with each Sunday, and in a few weeks 
Mrs. Hob art, with some of the ladies whom she 
had interested in her school, decided that they 
would build for themselves a chapel or Sunday 
school room. 

To raise the funds needed for this enterprise, 
the talent of some fifty of the young people, and 
children of the "Centenary Sunday school" was 
utilized by getting up a literary entertainment; 
comprising a congressional debate, dialogues, 
singing and recitations by the children and young 
people. This was well patronized and enough was 
realized to pay for the erection of a little chapel, 
40x35. 

The lumber for this little chapel, was kindly 
donated by the Brothers Harrison; the windows 
by Bro. Copeland; the curtains by Miss Ada M. 
Chapman, of Brooklyn, N. Y., and the furniture by 
other friends. Minneapolis Methodism is under 
many obligations to the Messrs. Harrison 
for its development, financially. These gentlemen, 
loyal sons of a royal Methodist father and mother, 



RECOLLECTIONS. 391 

contributed largely to the building of the Cente- 
nary M. E. church, the first large church which 
Methodism owned in that city. A little later 
they contributed to the building of Seventh street 
church and afterward, to Hennepin avenue 
church. Indeed, of the ten Methodist Episcopal 
churches in that beautiful and enterprising "city by 
the falls," there is not one which has not shared 
more or less in their liberality and beneficence. 

Of these three brothers, William, Asbury and 
Hugh, much might be written to their credit as 
Methodists and Christian gentlemen. , William 
Harrison, the elder of the three and the leader 
and counselor of the brothers for many years, was a 
gentleman of rare kindness and Christian courtesy, 
as well as of great sagacity and business tact. 
He was uncompromising in his adherence to the 
right on every line, abhorring whatever in his es- 
timation, savored of hypocrisy or deceit; a cordial 
supporter of whatever would tend to the develop- 
ment of the truth. Hence, in him the preachers 
always found a kind friend and at his home and 
table, from himself and estimable wife, a kindly 
welcome. Naturally quiet and retiring, he chose 
for his recreation the care of his beautiful grounds 
and orchard. And it is a pleasant memory to see 
him in the morning, with his genial smile, come 
out from under the apple trees to give a cordial 
greeting, and to think of him with scarcely an 
absence for many years from his accustomed place 
in the church and prayer meeting. He left us for 
the home of many mansions, about eleven years 



392 RECOLLECTIONS. 

ago, but he left behind him the testimony of a life 
of truth and of devotion to the service of God, and 
"his works do follow him." 

His brothers, Asbury and Hugh, are still with 
us, brethren beloved in the church; helping and 
encouraging in every good word and work. 

Among the many monuments of the Christian 
benevolence of these brothers, perhaps none will 
be more enduring than that of Hamline university. 
This institution, which has been so greatly bene- 
fitted by their generosity and which without their 
aid must have been shorn of much of its present 
success, is now located about half way between the 
twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. It has 
already acquired a fine reputation as an educational 
institution of our Methodist church in the North- 
west. It is doing, at this time, a good work, giv- 
ing proof of its usefulness ; and has before it, I 
believe and hope, a grand career in the develop- 
ment of the Methodism of Minnesota. Dr. G. H. 
Bridgman is its efficient president. 

Into our little chapel, which these dear friends 
and their wives had assisted us in building and 
encouraged us in undertaking, we moved the Sun- 
day school before winter. At the same time 
preaching was arranged for in the afternoons at 
the close of the school; and prayer and class meet- 
ing on Thursday evenings. About this time Dr. 
Calkins took the superintendency of the Sunday 
school, Bro. Wyman having left the city. 

We soon found that an organ was needed, and 
another literary entertainment and social was given 



RECOLLECTIONS. 393 

by the Sunday school and the needful funds were 
procured. This chapel was in a short time en- 
larged and made into a charge, under the care of 
Rev. S. T. Sterrett. The church grew and pros- 
pered and in time eligible lots were secured, and a 
very excellent church erected; and our little 
"Hobart chapel" has grown into Franklin avenue 
church, one of the strongest and best located of 
the ten pleasant and prosperous M. E. churches in 
Minneapolis; Dr. C. A. Van Anda being the pres- 
ent pastor. 

At the Winona conference it was deemed best 
to make Minneapolis, which had formerly belonged 
to the St. Paul district, the centre of a new district 
to be known as the Minneapolis district. This 
was done and Rev. D. Cobb was appointed pre- 
siding elder. By this arrangement St. Paul be- 
came the headquarters of my district and necessi- 
tated our change of residence from Minneapolis to 
St. Paul. 

Our stay in this very pleasant "city by the falls" 
had been a most enjoyable one, socially. Mrs. 
Hobart regretted the sundering of many valued 
associations there; but sorrowed most of all to 
leave her Sunday school and the increasing re- 
ligious interest centering in the "Hobart chapel." 

In the spring of 1871, while the St. Paul district 
included St. Paul and Minneapolis, two points 
were selected by myself and friends, in St. Paul, 
where that growing city needed, in our judgment, 
more religious privileges. Two Sunday schools had 
been organized, and were, after a while, made into 

26 



394 RECOLLECTIONS. 

a charge under the pastoral care of Rev. F. A. 
Tuttle. I had some trouble in securing the funds 
necessary for these enterprises, and for the sup- 
port of the pastor; but my faith was strong in God 
and I believed He would send the needed help if 
efforts were made. And so it was, the money was 
given and the work inaugurated. These points 
have since grown into the two flourishing charges 
of Grace church and "Clinton avenue." 

On my third round in the spring, my wife 
accompanied me on a three weeks' trip to the ex- 
treme northwest of my district, including Parker 
Prairie and Long Prairie As the railroad extended 
no further than Melrose and we had eighty miles 
beyond to travel to reach Parker Prairie, we were 
indebted to the kind services of Bro. J. M. Akers, 
then stationed at Sauk Centre, and Bro. A. H. 
Reed and others, who brought us by stages in their 
own conveyances to Alexandria. Here we were 
furnished by Bro. H. S. Hilton witli the use of his 
horse and buggy for the next thirty miles to Park- 
er Prairie. 

This was a tedious and somewhat uncomfortable 
ride. The rains for the few days previous had 
been very heavy, the ground in places naturally 
miry. A good part of our route lay through woods 
where the stumps had been left (the only track to 
drive over); and stretches of bog interspersed with 
tangled roots. By laying down, now and then, in 
the softest places, poles for the wheels to run on, 
and by the patient plodding of the horse who 
wallowed and pulled us bravely through, we man- 



RECOLLECTIONS. 395 

aged to reach Parker Prairie just at dark, after an 
all day's ride. 

We found Bro. J. L. Smith and wife expecting 
their elder, and we received a cordial welcome. 
This brother was in the second year on this charge, 
a good preacher, and an excellent man. For the 
first year he received nine dollars. Yet with a little 
garden and some potatoes, corn, and vegetables, 
raised by his people, and a little missionary money, 
he had made out the year. The second year, the 
one of which I speak, the people had done a little 
better for their pastor, having been able to get their 
farms under cultivation. The furniture of this 
good man's log cabin was very scanty. They had 
not had a chair to sit on during the two years; 
three wooden stools being the substitutes, with a 
small wooden bench. On our return, at my wife's 
suggestion, I mentioned this circumstance to some 
of our friends in St. Paul, who furnished me with 
ten dollars to invest in chairs for Bro. Smith and 
his wife. So that on my next trip, which was in 
the fall, I had the pleasure of presenting to this 
faithful couple, two good sized arm camp-chairs, 
from their friends in St. Paul. How gratefully 
they were received, and how much appreciated, 
none can tell but those who have been in like need. 

Our quarterly meeting at Parker Prairie was 
held in a school house, which was still minus the 
windows, the seats and the shingles. Some of the 
brethren carried in boards, placed them on nail- 
kegs and boxes and anything that would support 
them, and the people crowded in. We were hav- 



396 RECOLLECTIONS. 

ing a good time, all listening intently to the 
preacher, when a sudden thunder shower came up. 
Hoping that it might not disturb us much, I pro- 
ceeded; had just commenced the administration 
of the sacrament, when the rain began to pour 
down through the open rafters. But on we went; 
no one seemed to think of moving, until we had 
concluded the services. By that time some of the 
men went out and brought in umbrellas and buffalo 
robes from the wagons ; and all waited quietly and 
patiently for the sunshine which came in half an 
hour or so. 

On Monday we returned to Alexandria with Bro. 
Hilton's conveyance; took the stage that day for 
Osakis, and were shaken up in the most approved 
style in the heavy old stage, as we jolted and 
thumped over some twelve miles of about the worst 
imaginable specimen of corduroy roads. 

We found Bro. Eeed waiting for us at Osakis 
with a two-horse wagon; and we proceeded to take 
the road for Long Prairie, where was to be held a 
camp-meeting and which we expected to reach 
about sundown. The condition of the roads, which 
was decidedly bad on our ride to Parker Prairie, 
the week before, we found horrible now. And 
beside, the rain of Sunday noon and night had so 
swollen the streams, that the usually traveled 
roads were considered impassable; that through 
the woods, although longer, was thought safer, and 
so we jogged along. 

We had driven about three or four miles when 
in getting over some stumps our whifHetree broke. 



RECOLLECTIONS. 397 

Mending it with a string and bracing it up with a 
pole, we drove on to find ourselves, before long, in 
a bog over which poles must be laid for our wheels. 
Steadying the wagon by holding it up, and placing 
fresh runners at intervals, we emerged from that 
dilemma, to plunge into the dense timber just as 
the rain, accompanied with heavy thunder and 
lightning, began to pour down. To hasten was 
impossible. The way had to be trodden with great 
caution. For a couple of hours we endured what 
could not be cured, as philosophically as might be, 
rejoicing that we were provided with one small 
umbrella for three of us. 

About 11 o'clock p. m., we reached Sauk river, 
which we expected to cross at the ford below the 
mill. This was discovered, after some observation, 
to be impracticable; as the river was on a rampage 
from the late rains. However, a single log was 
found laid across it on the brink of the dam. 
Leaving Mrs. Hobart in the wagon, with the rain 
pattering down, the lightning flashing, the thunder 
muttering in the distance, the mosquitoes swarm- 
ing by myriads, and the blackness only made more 
apparent by the occasional flashes, Bro. Reed and 
I started to see what was the next best thing to be 
done. He "cooned" himself over the log and woke, 
after long calling, the miller; procured a light, 
held it at the further side of the dam; and called 
to me that we could get across by driving straight 
toward the light, avoiding the fall of twelve or 
fifteen feet on the right, and the deep water of 
about twenty feet on our left. Returning to Mrs. 



398 RECOLLECTIONS. 

Hobart, I stated the case, and we drove on and 
over the dam, the water coming up and into the 
wagon box a little. Thankfully we went on for 
another stretch of about six miles all open and 
clear, and reached Bro. Losees, where they had 
been looking for us all the evening, but had given 
us up after midnight and had retired. 

The camp-meeting which commenced the next 
day, was a great help to the neighborhood for 
many miles around. Religious privileges were so 
few, the people so scattered, that some who 
attended that meeting had not heard a sermon in 
years before. Fifteen or twenty were happily 
converted; a still large number of backsliders were 
reclaimed; a score of children and adults baptized, 
and the hearts and faith of many, strengthened. 

Besting one day, after the close of the meeting, 
at Bro. Losees, we were then taken by our host to 
Osakis, where another camp-meeting had been ap- 
pointed. This, too, was a very profitable occasion. 
Work was done, the fruitage of which has been 
better lives for all these years; and the harvesting 
of which will not be, until the "sweet by and by." 

At the close of the week, bidding farewell to 
the many friends, we retraced our steps by stage, 
buggy and railroad, and reached Red Wing, 
tired and yet refreshed; thanking our God for all 
the way in which He had led us. 

At the conference of 1873, the district was so 
modified by the formation of the St. Cloud dis- 
trict that I was released from the necessity of visit- 
ing that upper country. The loss, territorially, 



RECOLLECTIONS. 399 

was made up by adding to my district on the south, 
Red Wing, Red Wing circuit, North field and 
Cannon Falls. This lessened the fatigue of travel, 
and put the district in much better shape. 

The year was a prosperous one, the preachers 
were efficient and zealous, the charges, increasing 
in numbers and in usefulness, and the "Word of 
God grew mightily and prevailed." 

Our state camp-meeting at Red Rock, which 
had been established since 1869, was blessed again 
this year with the approval of the Lord in the 
awakening and conversion of sinners, and in the 
sanctification of believers. 

The conference of 1874, met at First church, St. 
Paul. This elegant structure is the representative 
of Market street church, the first Protestant 
church built in Minnesota; which having been 
sold the money was invested, and with very liberal 
contributions from Bros. Nichols, Goodrich and 
others, resulted in the erection of this, one of the 
most beautiful churches in the state. 

My four years on the district being ended, my 
next appointment was Red Wing circuit. This 
was to me both pleasant and convenient. And yet 
the arrangement was not of my own seeking or 
planning. Fearing that Bro. Levi Gleason, who 
had been on the work but one year, would feel af- 
flicted by the change, I had stated to Bishop Ames 
that I was ready for any field. But he, knowing 
that my home was in Red Wing, and perhaps with 
some consciousness also of my many changes and 
long years of service, made the appointment; saying, 



400 BEOOLLECTIONS. 

in reply to niy fears for the comfort of my young 
brother: "I will assume all responsibility 
in the matter." And when Bishop Ames set his 
foot down, there was not much probability of its 
being lifted. 

The Red Wing circuit had five appointments 
in two weeks; all to be filled on Sundays (two on 
one, and three on the other); with a ride of fif- 
teen and twenty miles on each alternate Sabbath. 
To these were added another point which had 
belonged formerly to the city work. 

To help me in this really difficult work, my good 
wife offered to fill one of these appointments each 
Sunday. This was quite a relief to me, and was 
very acceptable to the people. Indeed, I thought 
they were better pleased with her preaching than 
with mine. There were indications of revival, at 
several of the appointments, and we began early in 
the year to hold special meetings, with very en- 
couraging results. There were several conversions 
at different points, but at Spring Creek, 
in the town of Burnside, the work was most 
extensive. The power of the Lord was 
there revealed as in the former days; and 
forty were clearly converted. The influence of 
this was most salutary; and many of those who 
started then in the service of the Lord, are not 
only steadfast still in the faith, but walking in the 
light, and rejoicing in the prospect of life eternal, 
while some have already entered "the gates of 
pearl." 

Our next conference was held at Red Wing; 



RECOLLECTIONS. 401 

Bishop Wiley, presiding. The good bishop whom 
we had the pleasure to entertain at our home, en- 
deared himself, to all our hearts by his firm and 
gentle wisdom, his brotherly and considerate ad- 
ministration. His sermon on Sunday was a most 
blessed one, and will long be remembered. His 
theme was, "Faith and its Mighty Kesults." 

I was returned to the circuit, and had with the 
dear people a happy and prosperous year, in which, 
while there were not so many converted, because 
there were not as many to convert, there was a 
good deal of building up and strengthening. 



402 RECOLLECTIONS. 



CHAPTEE XXIV. 

U7HE first hundred years of American Independ- 
ence ended in 1876. In that year ended also 
my fortieth year of active itinerancy. And it 
seemed to me with an abiding consciousness of grati- 
tude to Him who for forty years had permitted me 
to sow by many waters, the Word of Life; who 
had enabled me to endure, as seeing Him who is 
invisible, through some hard service; who had 
given me strength to labor with scarcely the loss 
of an appointment (saving the time of illness at 
Macomb in 1839) ; who had permitted me to build 
and lay deep the foundations of our faith, in Illi- 
nois, Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota; who had 
led and blessed me all my life — that it would honor 
Him more, and serve the church better, for me to 
withdraw from the front lines of the battle, and 
let the younger men who were pushing on, lead 
the hosts. 

This conclusion did not at all induce me to retire 
from labor in the Master's vineyard, nor from 
service in our beloved Zion. But it left me free 
to preach where I pleased; and as I had labored 
many years for very little pecuniary recompense, 
it would permit me to give the Lord and the church 



RECOLLECTIONS. 403 

what service there was still in me, without charge. 

My work, however, as an itinerant, did not ter- 
minate as I had calculated. "While traveling on 
the Red Wing circuit, after an interval of three 
years' absence, two winters of which were spent as 
chaplain of our state legislature, and the other in 
California — in an effort to restore my wife's 
health — I was taken seriously ill with pneu- 
monia. In this attack I came down very 
near to the gates of death; and from thence 
returned slowly to health and strength. But 
through the mercy of our God and the constant 
care of my dear wife, and the best skill of com- 
petent physicians, Dr. Philo E. Jones, of Red 
Wing, and that of my son-in-law, Dr. Charles 
Simpson, of Minneapolis, I have been raised to the 
enjoyment of comparative vigor. 

My experiences during the days when I was 
hovering between life and death, were glorious be- 
yond expression. It seemed as if I were bathing 
in an infinite ocean of light, love and sweetness. 
And with returning health, this fact was deeply 
impressed upon my consciousness that there is 
neither "valley nor shadow," through which the 
Christian must pass to reach his heavenly home. 

Our visits to California in 1879 and in 1883, 
were both beneficial and delightful. On our last 
trip we were by special invitation the guests of 
Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Duncan, of Duncan's 
Mills, who by their generosity made the trip pos- 
sible. To these dear friends, cousins of my wife, 
we are under very many obligations. On each 



404 EECOLLECTIONS. 

occasion of our visit to the "land of flowers," their 
elegant home was made to us a welcome resting 
place. 

While spending the winter there the last time, 
Mrs. Hobart's health was so far restored that she 
was able to visit several parts of the state in the 
interest of the Woman's Christian Temperance 
union. In Hollister we enjoyed the hospitalities 
of my old Wisconsin friends, Bro. Ehinehart and 
wife. This good brother was one of my stewards 
on the Union charge, Racine district. And here 
Mrs. Hobart organized a W. C. T. U. 

We also visited Santa Cruz, where we met our 
neighbors and friends, Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Howe, 
who were spending the winter in California, and 
which beautiful land, Mrs. Howe left the 
next summer for that country "where the inhabit- 
ants never say, 'I am sick!'" Butte and Shasta 
counties were visited; W. C. T. unions organized, 
and considerable temperance work done. At 
Chico, we were the guests of General John Bidwell 
and wife. And we saw one of the best, if not the 
very best, cultured and most thoroughly managed 
ranches in California. The superior development 
of this grand ranche of 24,000 acres, with its fruit 
farms, grain fields, sheep and stock farms, was 
not like too many of the great ranches of Cali- 
fornia, which are about half or one-quarter im- 
proved. Here every acre is made to bring forth 
the choicest and the best. Every road is graded, 
worked and metamorphosed into the most charm- 
ing and picturesque avenues and drives. The 



RECOLLECTIONS. 405 

same taste and care was observed in the houses of 
the different overseers; in the fine "fruit drying 
house;" in the mill, where only the very choicest 
brand of flour was allowed to be marked and sold ; 
in the banking and bridging of the beautiful 
Chico creek, from which the ranche and adjoining- 
city are named. And in this self-same gem of a 
little city of which the General was the proprietor, 
his wise, sensible and kindly care is also seen. 

In Chico the people, almost to an individual, 
own their houses, and are ambitious to cul- 
tivate their grounds and door plats to the best 
advantage. With them Chico is home; its order, 
its business, its churches, its benevolences— every- 
thing, in fact, but its saloon, belongs to them, and 
all are interested in making the most of it. Here 
one sees nothing of the raggedness of old tumble 
down adobe houses, or of the thriftlessness which 
meets the eye in so many of the smaller California 
towns. And which want of thrift and care are the 
result of the wine and brandy stills, the adjuucts 
of her vineyards. Chico has nothing of that air. 
In addition to all her other attractions she has, also, 
a large and most efficient Woman's Christian Tem- 
perance union, with Mrs. General Bidwell the 
honored president. 

Stockton and Sacramento was also visited. In 
the Capitol we in common with all who look on it, 
could but admire the beautiful marble, of "Colum- 
bus at the Court of Isabella," presented to the 
state by D. O. Mills, one of her adopted sons. 

The great, wonderful, conglomerate city of San 



406 RECOLLECTIONS. 

Francisco, with her wealth and taste and grand 
architecture, and palatial hotels, and cars and nob 
hills; with her aristocracy and her squalor; with 
her Chinese quarters and her sand lots; with her 
generosity and great business interests; her ship- 
ping and warehouses; her vast docks; her magni- 
ficent harbor and matchless bay — was visited. 

We were at Oakland, too, so lovely and so home- 
like; fit resting place for the tired denizens of San 
Francisco, who have but to cross the noble bay to 
breathe the purer atmosphere of peace and home 
life in that charming city. 

But of all California's charming places, the busy 
stirring city of San Jose in the Santa Clara Valley, 
pleased us most. And could other matters have 
been satisfactorily arranged, we would very wil- 
lingly have ended our wanderings in that beautiful 
valley. And somewhere in the neighborhood of 
the "University of the Pacific," an institution 
which is an honor to the Methodism of northern 
California, situated midway between San Jose 
and Santa Clara, we would have purchased a 
little home; and there, escaping the severe 
winters of our Northwestern climate, have spent 
in the service of our God, the evening years of life. 
But of this change we are still uncertain. 

In conclusion — as we old time preachers were 
wont to say— one word more to my many dear friends 
and brethren in the ministry and laity, with whom 
I have so long toiled in love and friend- 
ship. We have labored together in these new 
fields. We have seen the "handful of corn upon 



RECOLLECTIONS. 407 

the tops of the mountains," and we have lived to see 
it "shake like Lebanon." We have had the great 
honor of toiling in some of the rough places in the 
Master's vineyard. Many of our lives have com- 
passed the most eventful years of this or any other 
age. "The little one has become a thousand, and the 
small one, a strong nation." Some of us have 
lived to see the centennial of Methodism in the 
world in 1839; the centennial of Methodism in the 
United States in 1866, and the centennial of the 
organization of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
which has just closed. We have seen our own 
denominational institutions, seminaries, colleges 
and universities, rise from saplings to the altitude 
and circumference of mighty trees, which dot the 
land; and in the shelter of which the children 
and youth of our church may be, and are, safely 
nurtured. 

Our denominational papers and publishing in- 
terests, from small beginnings have become mighty 
factors in the onward march of evangelical truth, 
and the moulding of public opinion. Our great 
church enterprises, the Freedman's Aid, the 
Church Extension society, and our Home and For- 
eign missionary societies, with Sunday school and 
Tract associations, have come into existence, and 
have attained their well developed proportions in 
our day. 

We have lived through a bloody fratricidal war. 
We have heard the clanking of the chains of the 
bondmen until our hearts have ached with very 
anguish for our shame. We have lived to see 



408 RECOLLECTIONS. 

those chains wrenched into atoms, by the breath 
of the blast of His nostrils, and fall, never to be 
lifted again. 

And now, beloved, what wait we for? To be 
faithful unto death; to preach the Word, and the 
acceptable year of the Lord; "to be doers of the 
Word, and not hearers only;" and to be ready to 
render our account with joy, and enter into that 
"rest which reniaineth for the people of God." 

My dear brothers and sisters, I charge you all, 
before our Lord Jesus Christ and before God, the 
judge of all, that you hold fast your faith and let 
nothing come between you and Christ.-" Put your- 
selves into the inner circle of His fellowship, and 
see to it that His atoning blood washes you clean. 

Most of those we loved are with the immortals. 
And many times have we pledged ourselves to 
meet, them on "Canaan's happy shore." The 
Master's voice is sweetly calling: "Fear not, I am 
with thee." "Be thou faithful unto death." "He 
that overcometh shall inherit all things." Many of 
our dear ones are waiting to welcome us within the 
pearly gates. Heaven only can supply us with 
language which can describe the joy that shall 
fill and thrill and overwhelm us, when together we 
bow before Him "who hath loved us and redeemed 
us and washed us in His own blood;" and who "hath 
made us kings and priests unto God and the Lamb 
forever." Let us, then, rejoice and be exceeding 
glad; for all this shall be ours in a few days hence. 
Amen. 



RECOLLECTIONS. 409 

And while waiting, let 113 sing with Bro. Mark 
Traf ton : — 

"Abide with us, the evening shadows gather 
In the low vale; and on the sluggish stream 

Chill mists come creeping up, whose thick folds sever 
From our dim sight the further bank serene. 

"The evening comes; the day's departing glory 
Just gilds the edges of Time's riving cloud. 

We hear low murmurings of life's fitful story. 
As distant echoes from the hurrying crowd. 



"O traveler from regions dim and distant, 
Which our short vision never yet explored, 

Where dwells the One supreme and self existent, 
Where earth's lost treasures still we deem are stored. 

"Stay, thou, and tell, while yet the dawning slumbers, 
The mysteries of that home land rich and rare ! 

Entranced, as listening to the flowing numbers, 
These eyes shall close, and waking — find us there!" 



THE EXD. 



OCT 16 1903 



So 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




014 573 156 2 ^ 



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